BP has made a sizeable investment in the good will of government officials who will judge its culpability in the Gulf

BP and others in the oil and gas industry have paid for dozens of trips and meals for officials at federal agencies deeply involved in Washington’s response to the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.



A review by The Hill of gift reports on file at the Office of Government Ethics shows oil and gas companies picked up the tab for tours by federal officials of offshore oil rigs in the Gulf along with oil facilities in Alaska.

Companies and industry trade groups took care of food and lodging for officials and also paid for them to attend business conferences. The records cover gift reports filed by employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Interior Department and the Homeland Security Department, which all have dealings with oil and gas companies.


The bulk of the trips occurred under President George W. Bush’s administration. Only two industry-funded trips took place during the first nine months of President Barack Obama’s administration.

BP, the company at the center of what has been called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, picked up the highest tab for gifts to government officials among oil companies, according to the reports.

BP and its affiliates — BP America and BP Exploration — show up in the gift reports at least 16 different times, paying for meals as well as for oil and gas industry seminars and tours of oil facilities. The cost of the gifts totaled more than $7,200. 



In June 2004, BP paid for meals and airfare for a trio of Interior Department officials, including then-Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, while they visited an offshore oil rig off New Orleans. BP split the cost with the National Ocean Industries Association.

Griles later pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for his involvement in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.



In February 2005, then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton and then-Minerals Management Service (MMS) Director Johnnie Burton attended a dedication ceremony for BP’s Thunder Horse oil rig off the coast of Texas. BP paid for travel and meals for the officials.

BP also paid for airfare and lodging in 2006 and 2007 for a trip by officials from the Fish and Wildlife Service to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, for “maintenance of video surveillance at polar bear den” and a “polar bear study,” according to documents. 



In August 2004, six EPA officials attended a meeting on Alaska’s North Slope near Prudhoe Bay, where they stayed at BP facilities. In 2006, BP was responsible for a large oil spill in Prudhoe Bay.