BP Board Apppoints Independent Expert to Monitor Progress on Baker Panel Report

The board of BP p.l.c. today announced that it has appointed L. Duane Wilson as the independent expert who will monitor progress in implementing the recommendations of the Baker Panel to improve safety performance at the Group’s five US refineries which are owned and operated by BP Products North America, Inc.
The Panel, an independent body chaired by former US Secretary of State, James A. Baker, III, was established by BP on the recommendation of the US Chemical Safety Board to examine safety management systems at the Group’s US refineries and corporate safety culture following the explosion and fire at Texas City in March 2005. Mr Wilson was one of the Panel’s 11 members.
The Panel’s report, published in January 2007, contained ten recommendations, all of which BP undertook to implement. The recommendations are designed to improve process safety performance at the Group’s US refineries. These included an undertaking to appoint an independent expert for a period of at least five years to monitor and report annually on the progress of such implementation to the BP p.l.c. board.
Mr Wilson is the retired vice president of refining, marketing, supply & transportation and fuels technology for ConocoPhillips. As such, he has experience and expertise in managing large-scale organisations, as well as expertise in process safety and refining.
Mr Wilson will report to the Chairman of the BP p.l.c. board’s Safety, Ethics and Environmental Assurance Committee (SEEAC) which will produce a publicly available report based on his assessment of progress in implementing the Panel’s recommendations at its US refineries.