Oil Spill

BP, British Petroleum, is the third largest energy company in the world. BP operates in over 80 countries. British Petroleum was originally founded in 1909. It was established to discover and utilize oil in Iran. In 2010, BP experienced a tragic oil spill that was caused by an explosion at a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill affected humans, the environment, and the wildlife in the Gulf region tremendously. This resulted in the death of eleven employees and dozens more injured. More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill. It also had a substantial economic effect. For example, BP has lost $25 billion in market value. Also, BP’s reputation was damaged and needed effective communication to restore its image. BP tries to paint itself in a positive light by using three strategies: verbally rationalizing the oil spill, using twitter to show their obligation, and visually highlighting their commitment to the Gulf.

BP’s website verbally tries to somehow rationalize itself. The website highlights the procedures they are following to solve the oil spill dilemma. The website quotes “Despite every endeavor to prevent them, oil spills can still happen”. However, they do not blame someone else for what happened and admit that it was a mistake they should learn from. They do not focus on how the oil spill happened but rather focus on what they learned from it to make new technical requirements for BP operations that drill in deep water to avoid similar oil spills. They further explain how they began implementing these requirements in Angola and other places where they have deep water drilling active or planned for 2012 but are still waiting until the requirements are met. BP uses this strategy to show that whatever was the reason for the mess, the damage is done. In their website, the page “Gulf of Mexico restoration” provides the latest updates on procedures they are undertaking that shows how much they are willing to make up for the mistake and support the people and the environment in the most effective way.

BP uses links in the website that takes readers to BP’s Twitter account to demonstrate their commitment to improving and restoring the Gulf of Mexico. BP had a Twitter account before the accident but it was not regularly used. Before the spill, BP used twitter only as a one-way social media tool to broadcast information. Weeks after the tragic accident, BP used its Twitter account to provide updates to its followers. They also started responding to comments. BP then launched another account named