RSC chief executive appears on BBC BP documentary

The RSC chief executive was asked by the BBC to be interviewed for last night's much-heralded special documentary on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

Richard Pike was a senior manager at BP in the late 80s-early 90s and this summer was in much demand by media for comment on technical and communications aspects of the disaster.

Richard Pike appears at the front end (at 5.10 minutes in).

All the reports to date point to the root cause of the disaster being the failure of the cement barrier at the bottom of the well, in which the chemical composition of the material did not comply with design standards. This then exposed other failings in operational and maintenance procedures, which continue to be investigated.

Related links 

Money Programme - BP: $30 Billion Blowout
The Money Programme team presents an inside account of the BP oil spill. Features a host of interviews with key industry insiders, including Bob Dudley, the new Head of BP, and Dr Richard Pike, chief executive, Royal Society of Chemistry