Spills and Spin: The Inside Story of BP - Softcover

"Exhaustively researched ... If you want to know why BP got itself into such a mess before and after Deepwater Horizon, Spills and Spin is an excellent and reliable account" (Sunday Times)

"Compelling ... Bergin's account stands out as the most thoughtful of the many recent accounts" (Daily Telegraph)

"Bergin, a highly regarded oil industry reporter for Reuters, has provided the best assessment yet of how the accident was rooted in the nature of BP ... There are lessons here about how to prevent a crisis - and handle one - that anyone in business would do well to take in" (FT Weekend)

"Here is the story not only of BP's darkest day, but of its 20-year transformation from takeover target to dynamic market leader ... For a robust read on the combustible history of big oil ... Bergin has all the raw material you require" (The Richmond Magazine)

"Reveals how the Macondo well disaster was rooted to the history and culture of BP" (The Times)

In April 2010, the world watched in alarm as BP's Macondo well suffered a fatal explosion and a catastrophic leak. Over the next three months, amid tense scenes of corporate and political finger-pointing, millions of barrels of crude oil dispersed across the Gulf of Mexico in what became one of the worst oil spills in history.

But there is more to BP's story than this. Tom Bergin, an oil broker turned Reuters reporter, watched the 'two-pipeline company' of the early 1980s grow into a dynamic oil giant and PR machine by the turn of the twenty-first century. His unique access to key figures before, during and after the spill - including former CEO Tony Hayward - has enabled him to piece together this compelling account of a corporation in crisis, and to examine how crucial decisions made during BP's remarkable turnaround paved the way for its darkest hour.