BP boss Tony Hayward to give evidence

• Energy and Climate Change Committee
• Watch the meeting: UK Deepwater Drilling – implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

The Chair of the Committee Tim Yeo MP said:

"The safety measures that oil companies have to comply with in the UK are already stricter than in the US, but serious questions still need to be asked in light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Oil companies are now drilling at much lower depths than before."

"This new generation of ultra deepwater drilling poses particular safety challenges - as the Deepwater Horizon disaster demonstrated."

"The Energy and Climate Change Committee will be asking whether our current regulations are up to the job?”

The Committee’s inquiry, launched in July, aims to establish:

• Whether the Government was right to rule out a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the UK
• Whether the UK’s existing safety and environmental regulatory regime needs updating in the light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill
• What the risks are of deepwater drilling to the west of Shetland

The hearing is the second in the Committee’s inquiry. Last week the Committee heard from Transocean and Oil and Gas UK who insisted that the UK’s regulatory regime was fit for purpose and warned that imposing a moratorium on deepwater drilling in the UK would harm our energy security.

• Watch the first session: UK Deepwater Drilling - Implications of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Witnesses:

At 3.15 pm

• Dr Tony Hayward, Group Chief Executive, BP plc
• Mr Bernard Looney, Managing Director, BP North Sea
• Mr Mark Bly, Group Head of Safety and Operations, BP Plc
  Timings are approximate.

Further Information

• Visiting Parliament: Watch Committees
• About Parliament: Select Committees