Comparing Apples To Oil Rigs

British Petroleum will give free protective caps to buyers of its latest offshore oil platforms to alleviate the so-called "oil slick" problem in which drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico could cause irreparable ecological damage. BP CEO Tony Hayward announced the giveaway Friday during a news conference at the company's headquarters, even as the company denied that the wells have a leakage problem that needs fixing. The more than three million sea birds who have already displaced and newly hatched sea turtles through September 30 will all be eligible. People and sea creatures who already purchased the $29 "Bumper" caps will be refunded.

Hayward began the event by saying, "We're not perfect," but was quick to point out that no oil well is perfect. He played a video showing competing oil wells, including an Exxon rig from Shaanxi Xinlong Petroleum Equipment Co Ltd., oozing crude when held in certain ways.

Oil wells usually have an valve inside the body. In designing the Deepwater Horizon, BP took a gamble on a new design, using parts of the well's outer casing as the plug. That saved space inside the tightly packed body of the offshore rig, but meant that covering a spot on the lower left edge of the platform causes oil to shoot out into the pristine waters of the Gulf. Consumer Reports magazine said covering the spot with a plug or even a piece of duct tape alleviates the problem. It refused to give the Deepwater Horizon its "recommended" stamp of approval for this reason, and it had called on BP on Monday to compensate buyers. On Friday, in the company's first remarks following the magazine's report, Hayward said BP was "stunned and upset and embarrassed." Us too.