BP launches new advertising campaign

More than a year and a half after the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP launched a national television advertising campaign Friday aimed at giving a “progress report” on the company’s cleanup efforts.

The campaign comes as BP works to repair its reputation, which was greatly damaged during last year’s oil spill. The spill dumped 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf and resulted in 11 deaths.

The advertisement, which the company says is its first since late last year, features a BP employee explaining the status of the cleanup and Gulf restoration process. The employee, BP Manager of External Affairs in Louisiana Iris Cross, says the company has set aside $20 billion to compensate victims of the spill, has said it will pay for all cleanup activities and will work to restore the region’s ecosystem.

“I was born here. I’m still here and so is BP,” Cross, a Louisiana native, says in the one-minute advertisement. “We’re committed to the Gulf for everyone who loves it and everyone who calls it home.”

BP America Vice President for Communications Geoff Morrell touted the advertisements Friday.

“We made a commitment not only to restore the Gulf, but also to keep the American people informed of that effort,” Morrell said in a statement. “We’ve made significant strides over the past year and believe it’s a good time to provide a progress report to the nation.”

BP is pushing to get back into the offshore drilling business in the United States. The Interior Department approved a permit in October that allows BP to drill a new well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Though the company is taking pains to show that it’s making progress in its cleanup efforts, BP nonetheless remains embroiled in the aftermath of the spill.

A joint Interior Department-U.S. Coast Guard investigative report released earlier this year blamed BP and its contractors for the spill. And the Interior Department has slapped BP with a series of regulatory violation notices that pave the way for fines related to the spill. Under current law, violations of safety rules come with a maximum penalty of about $40,000 per violation per day, a number that Obama administration officials have said is too low.

BP has said it will appeal the notices, arguing the issues identified by federal regulators “played no causal role in the accident.”

Meanwhile, the company continues to fight a massive legal battle in the courts. If BP is deemed negligent under the Clean Water Act by the courts, the company will have to pay $1,000 for every barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf. If the courts find that BP was grossly negligent, the company will have to pay $4,200 per barrel.

Last year's spill spewed about 4.9 million barrels into the Gulf, meaning BP could have to fork over between $5.4 billion and $21.1 billion.

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