BP announces intent to join marine well containment company, providing experience and equipment

Houston - BP announced today its intent to join the proposed Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) and to make its underwater well containment equipment available to all oil and gas companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico.

This and other equipment will preserve existing capability for use by the oil and gas industry in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico while Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell build a system that exceeds current response capabilities. Under the terms of an agreement with the Marine Well Containment System operator ExxonMobil, the sponsor companies' project team will utilize full time BP technical personnel with experience from the Deepwater Horizon response.

"We are pleased to announce our plans to join the Marine Well Containment Company and provide the experience and specialized equipment needed to respond to a deepwater well control incident," said Richard Morrison, BP vice president for Gulf of Mexico operations. "We believe the addition of our recently gained deepwater intervention experience and specialized equipment will be important to the marine well containment system."

BP this month released a report prepared for the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement on lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon incident. The report, Deepwater Horizon Containment and Response: Harnessing Capabilities and Lessons Learned, is a guide to enhancing responses to future incidents.

Further information

Contacts

Additional information about the U.S. Gulf of Mexico marine well containment system is available at http://www.exxonmobil.com/mwcs.