Corporate board member's business acumen and connections are valuable commodities in a crisis. Two Big Oil board members, William Reilly and Robert Dudley, occupy key positions in the Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe.
William Reilly - co-chair of President Obama's Oil Spew Commission & member of ConocoPhillips board of directors
Robert Dudley - head of BP's spill management division and BP board member
Reilly received roughly $250,000 from ConocoPhillips in 2009 compensation and controls over $2 million in stock. ConocoPhillips is a joint venture partner with BP in the massive Tiber field in the Gulf of Mexico.
Dudley survived the Russian mafia, which somehow prepares him for the U.S. media. He did learn to go underground, i.e. not open his mouth and repeatedly insert "risk management" foot (like BP CEO Tony "Wayward" Hayward).
Another BP board member serves with Reilly on the National Commission on Energy Policy. Errol B. Davis, Jr., has been on the board of BP since 1998. Davis provided governance during BP's various fiascoes. How might Errol influence Bill, especially in light of their joint ventures and common corporate interests?
Big Oil's guns are on the water. Watch them closely.
