BP is supposed to represent the greening of the oil industry. The company’s recent investment in an alternative energy research center at Berkeley is supposed to be yet another demonstration of its commitment to moving "Beyond Petroleum."
Even the greenest of the oilies isn’t close to moving beyond oil, though. As the San Francisco Chronicle reported, "BP’s earnings hit $22 billion in 2006. The company spent $15.5 billion during the year buying back its own stock, almost twice what it may spend on renewable power and alternative fuels in a decade."
The US government has said that BP’s neglect of its pipeline in Prudhoe Bay was responsible for the shutdown of about half of the Alaskan oil supply to America last summer. BP’s Texas City refinery fire n 2005, which killed 15 people, also flared from the company’s disregard for safety. And the result in both cases — a market short on fuel, where the price goes through the roof. As long as the market rewards petroleum leaks, fires, and shortages with high prices, the Petroleum isn’t going out of British Petroleum any time soon.
The bottom line is that even self-inflicted bad news drives up oil and gasoline prices, aiding BP’s stellar bottom line. Even after a year’s worth of Arctic oil spills, a pipeline shutdown and federal investigations of market manipulation, oil giant BP ended the year with a 15% profit increase over last year.