in norway and the united kingdom, they have developed some of the best practices that are applicable and used around the world. that is based on our experience for several decades. those best practices and oversight review have been applied and used in the industry and other places of the world. i would say they rank right at the top in terms of capability and development of practices. >> similar answer in that i think the u.s. does have one of the most comprehensive set of regulations for the industry in theeworld. you can find other areas where a particular regulation may be more stringent than what you see in the u.s., but the important part for us as a company goes back to what i called our global standards, how we do things everywhere. those often exceed the regulations in any country. >> i would agree with that. the standards are similar ii many places, with some specific differences, but the u.s. has a strong set of standards. i would add a comment that i think, learning what we are learning here, augmenting some of those standards would be helpful. >> here time has expired. t

i know bp is active in norway. is there a significant difference on what you do in the gulf of mexico as compared to what you do off the coast of norway or great britain? >> we is the same standards globally. the truth is that the rules and regulations, as i understand it, in the gulf of mexico or higher than they are in the north sea on the u.k. sector in terms of the requirements. we will continue to learn from this incident and make changes to ensure that it cannot happen again, and it will be global. >> mr. greenfield's back. -- mr. green yields back. >> thank you, i appreciate the opportunity to ask some questions. mr. hayward, yesterday when we had a hearing with a difference of a committee of this bull committee, -- of this full committee, we had for ceo's of other oil companies. i could be wrong about this, but i think they all indicated that either would not have drilled this well or at least would not have drilled it the way be be drilled at. what -- would not have drilled a the way bp drill bit. what is

available sety techlogy which might borrow from technology thatlrea vailablend being used by and norway. anada, brazil and ofoue u, mr. blumenauer, have introdud or will soon introduce legislation to repeal the oil and gas tax loopholes and direct the funds to cln energy we'vgo theltimate solution, t off ssil fuel depend and look to, in a megfulay, those alteative sourceof energy that coulreallyelss our dependence, if not wean us entirely of the depeence of foren oil. in my home state of virginia, e tential offshore wind power i enormous. arng pot tension for offshore oil -- the potential for offshore oi whether we should drill,aby, drill off the ores of virginia, the entire estimated reserves, maximum, offhe shore of virnia, with thelargest coast line on the eastst is the equivalef no more than six days of oil supply. do we really want to risk the tourism industry, our vironment, perhaps permantl and thpresence of e vy in state thahas alrebeen home to the united states navy for six days'th of supply? ihink not. and so, the democrats ins house have in fact introduced legislaonhat wi add

norway, france, the netherlands. there were three of the countries on that list. in the mid-19th century, when they were sending immigrants to the united states, at their workplaces of grinding, a horrifying proverb -- poverty. terrible war and social dislocation. today, all three are among the richest per-capita income economies in the world and every year, all three are vying for the top spots in the u.n. tables on standard of living, education, and health care. as someone who is trying to be a close observer of american culture and someone who writes a lot about american history, i am amused by the idea that this country's unity, cohesiveness, function as a unitary state is under threat from people who speak languages other than english. 93% of americans said they speak english. threats of an incipient quebec seem a little overblown. but let's take that on as an idea. let's walk to the ghettos of american cities, hundred years ago. keep in your open keep an ear open for japanese, chinese, italian, polish, ukrainian in the crowded streets of baltimore, pittsburg

i know that bp is active in norway. is there a significant difference in what you do in the gulf of mexico as compared to what you do off the coast of norway, or even off the coast of edinburgh or great britain? >> we apply the same standards globally. the truth is that the rules and regulation as i understand it in the gulf of mexico are higher than in the north sea and in the u.k. sector in terms of requirements. so, we will continue to learn from this incident and make changes to ensure it cannot happen again. it will be global. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> you you back? our next, mr. barton, ranking member, for questions. >> thank you, i appreciate the opportunity to ask some questions. mr. tony hayward, yesterday when we had a hearing in a different subcommittee of this full committee we had four ceos of other oil companies. to a person, and i could be indicated they either would not have drilled this well, or least would not have dreaded the way repeated. your response? >> i wanted to understand exactly what hap

-- the blowout preventers that they used in norway. they would have been much better in helping to cap this thing, none of this would have happened, but they cost $5 million and they were optional and the government allowed these companies to opt-out of using these. it seems the government has egg on his face. mr. taylor seems to want to downplay that, i do not know why. guest: i am going to disagree with you. we passed a bill in 1990 in response to the exxon valdez. i was a member of the subcommittee then. we did something that should have been done 20 years sooner, which is to require every ocean- going vessel carrying oil to have a double haul. we have been waiting to pounce on this bill. what we did not envision at that time was drilling 5,000 feet beneath the surface, another 18,000 feet from there. exxon valdez was a response to a transportation problem, not an exploration problem. now we have exploration problems. there will be new legislation that addresses this and we want to get it right. we do not want to overdo it and furth

they reached out to the ministers of energy in norway as well as the uk, and in those particular nations there was a reorganization that occurred after there was a incident that was -- a horrific incident for those nations. and so we are -- that was one of the reasons why we ended up with this organization that is in front of you. in addition, i feel strongly that it is important to separate out what's in the organization, those who are involved in terms ofeasing the resource and those who are involved in bringing in on average $13 billion a year into the federal treasury from those who are involved in actually doing the inspection and enforcement and environmental compliance part. i think that's an important division that has to be made. as i said earlier in my testimony, mike brown will work closely with me and with other people who have been involved so that we tailor the organization closely and we'll work with your staffs to make sure the organization moving forward is the appropriate organization, organic legislation to be abll to do the important missions assigned to the departmen

however, when it came time, he could have said yes to norway, yes to holland and 12 other countries who have the equipment ready to roll and help us, but he said, no. it seems that what really happened -- i am not going to say he, but maybe somebody in the white house said let us let the oil get to the shores of galveston, louisiana, then we can hire maybe the people from a corner and so on and then really the spread the wealth -- maybe the people from acorn. i think the $17 billion to start would be like bp -- the british people have not treated the world very well. and they are suffering, but a lot of people in india -- to me, mahatma gandhi existed because the british were so bad. i go back to, i believe in god very, very much. god is a god of mercy and forgiveness, but the previous caller referred to the evil -- how about abortion? how about what we do? never what we would do to a puppy or kitten what we do to babies? host: >> it is oregon -- next is oregon, you are on the air. caller: i was fishing 20 miles off when the exxon valdez struck the rock. i have had many, many friends, l

they are required for offsthore oil riggs in norway and brazil and they cost about a half a million dollarsit would be a bargain at twice the price. they are not required in this country and again, under the bush-cheney herea, those rules were voluntary not mandatory, so that's why i say this is cheney's katrina. host: how much of a presence to they have in the united states versus around the world? guest: that's a good question. i don't know the exact figures. but in terms of the big five oil companies, in materials of profits, they were about four out of five in making profits in the u.s. i believe b.p. is the fourlt largest publicly- -- fourth largest publicly-owned company that did so. caller: greta, i'm a little confused this morning. i agree with mr. weis, i believe this is dick cheney's thing, when he made the statement that dick cheney and his company will profit from these oil restrictions and you said you can't blame republicans for it, that's not what he was saying. he was saying dick cheney's company and his company. it was nothing to do with saying republicans and democrats. al

drilling or not, and one of the viewers brought up the fact that in europe, particularly in europe -- norway and britain, and they used a different type of blowout preventer or something additional. guest: that, i believe, would be in reference to the acoustics which -- acoustic switch that is required. it is not an extra block the vendor but an extra weight to activate the blowout preventer -- it is not an extra blowout preventer. we are going to have to see what happened with the blowout preventer to know whether the absence of an acoustic switch had any bearing. chances are that if there had been and acoustic switch available on that blowout a preventive, the same thing would have happened. we just don't know what happens to the blowout preventer. host: have they brought in supertankers to sweep up the oil? guest: supertankers, no. on the surface, they are skimming oil off the surface where it has come to the surface. subsea they are injecting dispersant to form smaller massive that would biodegrade more rapidly. if that is what the question refers to, i think the answer is, yes, in the s

some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleanup and o'bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help with backings, why would we not accept any help to start cleaning this up? ors it even possible to start vacuuming upome oil before it eps spreading any further? guest: well, a couple of comments. first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it is in a high-energy environmen and it covers such a huge area, that it's sort of like throwing a dart at the side of a football stadium. so that's the first problem. but you do need to try. and if i was in charge, i would accept all the help i could get. but again, i find the prospect bheak. once -- bleak. once it's spilled, it's spilled. host: you thought there was too cozy a relatiohip between the oil companies and it's been read about military corruption. slain explain the law. do americans have any recourse against agencies enjoined with protecting them where there might be corption or mismanagement? >> the answer to the question is no. as a genera

then germany, great britain, canada, france switzerland, norway and italy. switzerland ahead of mexico of course by a tremendous margin, mexico. china, the philippines, cuba, el salvador, cuba, the domincan republic also more likely than average to have more children. this also require a more degree of social services tend to live in a house that has a low enough assessed value to not pay much into local municipal value to fund public schools. all three are vying for a top as someone who is trying to be a close observer of american culture under threat from people who speak languages of people other threats seem over blown keep an ear open depending on which coast you are the crowded streets of baltimore and cleveland. the news stands are bursting another one for socialist and union members the grandchildren of the children who run those streets are some of the same people worrying openly from all the data, my best advice is, don't worry what do you hear? every couple of minutes, adds for night schools cd rom languages. no one is developing these products, p

some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleanup and o'bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help with backings, why would we not accept any help to start cleaning this up? or is it even possible to start vacuuming up some oil before it keeps spreading any further? guest: well, a couple of comments. first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it is in a high-energy environment. and it covers such a huge area, that it's sort of like throwing a dart at the side of a football stadium. so that's the first problem. but you do need to try. and if i was in charge, i would accept all the help i could get. but again, i find the prospect bheak. once -- bleak. once it's spilled, it's spilled. host: you thought there was too cozy a relationship between the oil companies and it's been read about military corruption. slain explain the law. do americans have any recourse against agencies enjoined with protecting them where there might be corruption or mismanagement? >> the answer to the question is no.

norway has done lots of rilling in the north sea, a deepwater drilling. this administration has reached out to everyone to say that if you have ideas, expertise, bring them. so, i don't think we can be critical of their inability to reach out. they have been very aggressive. host: good morning. caller: my name is john white and teach marine engineering and worked on a marine simmering for 14 years. i believe the senate bill was correct. this is not time to argue about legal things or money. it is a time to look for the solution to stop the leak, first. otherwise, the catastrophe, its effect will be damaging the environment much greater than now. i have a design that i sent to mr. tunney he word sometimes -- to mr. tony hayward several times, and to the white house, but i have had no rrsponse. i have a way to seal the pipe and recapped the oil, and use it to pay for the damages. this design is a very unique design and uses a submarine system to seal the pipes. if you are interested i will send you the design ensure you have to do it. host: thanks, john. gu

we are using resources from norway, canada, and other places. in some cases, we're just having to trannfer the equipment down. nobody has come to me with a but any capability we can bring in, we are willing to. in some cases, it is the skimmer itself. to my knowledge, what we have brought in is equipment rather than the vessel itself, but we can get you a detailed list. >> regarding the video, did you get any resistance from the bp with turning over that discount -- that disc? >> early on there was some question about who owned the video and who had access to it. a firm called ocean during -- oceaneering had the access and had to get it back to us. >> they did not stand in the way of you getting it? >> not to my knowledge. there was an issue early on about who owned the data anddwho could release it. >> any more questions from the room? >> you said that some things used in saudi arabia and other things will not work here. why is that? >> the spill is a very large, concentrated, monolithic spelil. this bill is not a large, monolithic spill. -- th

bp has purchased from canada, mexico, the netherlands, and norway. >> was there a reason that the president or anyone else in the meeting today had to pressure bp to do anything else on the containment, or are you completely satisfied with the course of action that they laid out in a letter and at the meeting? >> there has been a very significant iterative process. they have gone to extraordinary lengths to bring in the shuttle tankers that are not normally used in the gulf of mexico. these vessels are dynamically positioned so they do not move. we have given them the stress goals and they have come in and told us how they are going to do that. we need to monitor that now. >> at the beginning of the meeting after the president left the room, we did spend some time going through these containment plans, making sure that every single thing was being done to expedite. they walk through the different production schedules where different parts and vessels are coming from. as the admiral said, we have to remain vigilant to ensure all this is done, but in the case of getting to the order of 50,000

was some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleup and bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help ngs, why would we not accept any help t start cleaning this up? or is it even possible to start vacuuming some oil before it eading any further? guest: well, aouple of . mments first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it is in a high-energy environment. and it covs such a huge area, that it's sort of like throwing of a athe side football stadium. so that's the first problem. but you do need to try. and if i was in crge, i would accept all the hel iou get. iind the prospect bheak. once -- bleak. once it's spilled, is spilled. host: you thought there w too cozy a relationship between the oil companies and it' been read about military corruption. slain explain the law. domericans have any recourse agnst agencies enjoined with otecting them where there ruption or mismanagement? >> the answer to the question . no as a general proposition, the agencies areharged by law and their answerle to the

we're told in norway and brazil, there's a device called an acoustic switch that is required, a safetythat might have been helpful in this particular case. and that the industry argued against it because it cost $500,000 for that piece of equipment. i want to put that in the context of bp's first quarter earn thgs year. they earned $5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2010. for that, they could have bought 11,000 of these devices that are required in other states. instead, they argued against being required to buy one. how do you feel that the -- incentives and the exhibition work in terms of how this affected the safety out on the deep water horizon? >> from a economic perspective, i feel that if you're going to play and you're going make billions and billions and billions of dollars, then you need to pay to avoid the threat that mr. coleman mentioned. even though this is an aberration, it's not an aberration in my life. in michelle and the boys' lives. any threat is too much. i know that other people think differently about that. i don't. sitting here today for the reason that i'm he

and norway where after horrific they reorganized the department relative to how they oversee the outerontinental shelf. as we move forward with their organization, the chairman and senator and distinguished members of this committee, i want to work closely with you to make sure that the organization that we put into place will ensure the goals that have been articulated by you that we have safety and the environment is a critical concern of how we move forward with development of ocs. i would be happy to take your questions. >> thank you. let me start to ask about the moratorium that you put into place. you refer to it as pressing the pause button. how does that affect producing wells in the gulf of mexico? are there requirements you are putting on the wells that currently producing, not those being developed, but those that are in production and closed in and operating? >> with respect to the moratorium and its application, we have the moratorium in place including with respect to the 33 deep water drilling operations that were under way. we have ordered those drilling rigs to continu

in norway they have acoustic devices or acoustic sensors on these blowout preventers. maybe we ought to be using that technological improvement. the point is this is our energy. i would rather be getting it from the gulf for anywhere in america, even off the coast of virginia and share the revenues with the states. i would much rather be getting it from our land and our waters than giving tankers coming in from hugo chavez in venezuela. let's do it cleanly with the best safeguards and that is the approach you take for american energy security, our drops and also our balance of trade as well. this is the last question. yes, sir. >> i'm just kind of curious--. >> you have a good super bowl quarterback out of byu. >> different personalities. i appreciate knowing your comparison, the common sense approach and competition being applied to our government and it seems very office-- obvious we should compete to the maximum ability we have. what is kind of comical what is being done at the moment. there is obviously enough poll that has got us to this point but what is the comm

this plan in large part reflects what has happened as well in places like the uk and norway where afteric incidents that they also had in their outer continental shelf, they reorganized their departments relative to how they oveee the outer continental shelf. as we move forward with the reorganization, chairman bingaman andenator murkowski and the distinguished members of this committee, i want to work closely with you to make sure that the organization that we put into place will ensure the goals which were articulated by you, senator bingaman and that is that we have safety and an environment as a critical concern of how we move forward with devopment in the ocs.and wd be happy to take your questions. >> well, thank you very much. let me just start and ask about the moratorium that you put in place. you'veo it as a pressing the pause button. how does that affect producing wells in the gulf? is there -- are there requements you're putting on the wells that are currently producing wells, not those that are being developed but those that he been in production and closed in and operating?

we're told that in norway and in brazil and in places where there's considerable drilling there's a device called an acoustics switch that's required that is a safety device that encourages the oil -- and that the industry argued vociferously against it because it costs $500,000 for that piece of equipment. i just want to put that in the context of b.p. first quarter earnings this year. they earned $5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2010. for that, they could have bought 11,000 of these devices that are required in other states. instead, they argued against being required to buy one. how do you feel that the incentives and economics work in terms of how this affected the safety on the deepwater horizon? >> well, from a purely economic perspective, i personal feel that if you're going to play and you're going to make billions and billions and billions of dollars, they need to pay to avoid the they that mr. coleman mentioned. even though this is an aberration, it's not an aberration in my life. it's not an aberration in michelle and the boys' life. any threat is too much from my perspectiv