BP (NYSE:BP) CEO Says Oil Spill Had Positive Effect on Advancing Safety in Industry

Speaking at an event for the first time since taking the reins of BP (NYSE:BP), CEO Bob Dudley covered a lot of topics in a talk Britain, including finding the positive in the negative Gulf oil spill event.

Dudley said, "A silver lining of the event is the significant and sustained advance in industry preparedness that will now exist going forward, [including] the learnings and the equipment and techniques invested by necessity under pressure to contain the oil and stop the well."

The CEO added media hysteria almost caused the company to fail because extraordinary and exaggerated claims, such as the oil ultimately going to reach Europe.

It barely stayed in the Gulf region after the Gulf cleansed itself of the vast majority of the oil spill quickly.

Concerning continuing to drill in the Gulf, Dudley said "It can be done safely."

BP is the largest oil and gas producer in the Gulf of Mexico.