Foreshadowing the BP Disaster?

Apparently I continue to be fascinated by the BP oil disaster.  I was doing a little project research and came across a June 15, 2007, article in the Houston Chronicle titled, "New CEO aims to help BP overcome deadly past."  The article discusses the rise of BP CEO Tony Hayward to the company's top spot and notes that he would be committed  to "safety" to help restore confidence in the company. 

The article goes on to report that Hayward admitted that BP and other oil companies cut costs because of low profit margins and oil prices in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but claimed "no link" between cost cutting and a Texas City explosion or Alaskan oil spill.  He did, however, say that "cutbacks in skilled engineers and other professionals in the same time period did lead to BP's problems with Thunder Horse, its ambitious oil platform."  The article continues, "In hindsight, [Hayward] said BP lacked engineering capacity to handle [that project's] scale and complexity."

Sound familiar?  This old news can't be good news for BP or its shareholders.  

--Josh Fershee