"Drill Baby, Drill!" - Tony Haywards Journey to Congress

Port Townsend, today. Like you, my concern about the developments below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico continues. Due largely in part to my interest in geology, I am a member of a couple of discussion groups composed of professionals in the oil drilling industry and have learned more from those groups than mainstream media, for sure!

Not to fear, the focus of "Oil-Electric" will always be twin shiny rails. Some 18 articles are in various stages of development from EMD's GM6C Thyristor locomotives through Northern Pacific's U25C's. They are, so to speak, "In the hole!"



Almost from the beginning of the Deepwater Horizon incident, I've been interested in learning who BP's CEO Tony Hayward is, and how he found himself staring into a boiling cauldron of oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.

What I appreciated about Mr. Hayward when I first read his background, was the fact that CEO, BP, was not bestowed upon him as an aristocratic reward.

Watching him this morning thread his way carefully through the House Hearing minefield, it is interesting to see how he has progressed from his humble beginnings as a working geologist on dangerous offshore rigs off the coast of Scotland, to become a very formidable CEO who knows his first responsibility is to the Corporation.

Here is Tony Hayward's "Journey to Congress:"

• Anthony Bryan "Tony" Hayward, CCMI (Companion - Chartered Management Institute.) Born May 21, 1957, in England, the eldest of seven children.
• He grew up in Windsor, on the outskirts of West London. His accent still reflects his roots in the Thames Valley. He went to a grammar school and then to Birmingham University to study geology before gaining his PhD in Geology at Edinburgh.
• Tony and his wife Maureen, a geophysicist and former BP employee, have two children, Kieran and Tara and make their home in England.
  
• Hayward lists his interests as sailing, triathlons and watching football, rugby, cricket, and a devoted fan of West Hamilton United Football Club. They also go skiing each year, often in Vail, Colorado.
• 1982. Joined BP. First job as a rig geologist in Aberdeen. Advanced his career through technical and commercial roles in BP Exploration.
• 1992. Moved to Colombia as exploration manager.
• 1995. Became president of BP's operations in Venezuela.
• 1997. Returned to London as a director of BP Exploration. He became group vice president of BP Amoco Exploration and Production.
• 2000. Appointed BP group treasurer. Responsibilities included global treasury operations, Foreign exchange dealing, corporate finance, project finance and mergers and acquisitions.
• 2002. Became an executive vice president.
• 2003. Appointed Chief Executive of exploration and production.
• 2005. Appointed a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute (CCMI).
• 2007. Appointed Chief Executive Officer of BP, succeeding John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley, who left BP under the cloud of a sensation sex scandal.
• April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.
• June 17, 2010. Requested to appear before the Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce.

In a 14-page letter, the Honorable Henry Waxman details the Committees findings on the destruction of the Deepwater Horizon, to which Mr. Hayward is requested to respond.

I encourage you to read this letter carefully. In it you will find weeks of speculation, theory, and misinformation will begin to succumb to the truth surrounding the chain of events leading to the deaths of 11 souls on the Deepwater Horizon.

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