BP faces angry protests at first AGM since spill

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BP was facing angry protesters and disgruntled shareholders on Thursday at its first annual general meeting since a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The meeting in London is taking place almost a year since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and caused millions of barrels of oil to spew into the sea.

Bob Dudley, the American who took over as chief executive in October, faces accusations that he engineered a deal to create a venture to explore for oil in the Arctic with Russian giants Rosneft in a bid to camouflage the worst disaster in BP’s history.

The Rosneft issue has been put off until next month after BP said Thursday that it and the Russian company had agreed to extend a deadline to complete a $16 billion share swap that is key to the deal.

Fishermen who claim their livelihoods have been damaged by the Gulf oil spill are set to protest at the AGM, alongside environmental campaigners.

Byron Encalade, president of the Louisiana Oystermen Association, said he would be at the AGM, to tell BP “the facts”.

He claimed people had been put out of work by the oil spill which hit the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico and not enough compensation had been paid.

Several key shareholders, including the US pension fund Calpers, have said they will vote against the annual report to be submitted at the AGM, in protest at the high levels of pay for BP executives despite the disaster.

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Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
Cooper Law Firm

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