BP announced it would sell part of its Gulf of Mexico operations to Chevron. The AP reported:
BP is selling part of its stake in an emerging oil-producing region in the Gulf of Mexico to Chevron, and the two companies, along with Conoco Phillips, will work to develop the fields together.ConocoPhillips board member William K. Reilly co-chaired President Obama's Oil Spill Commission. A ConocoPhillips SEC filing stated:
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The joint-development agreement is a way for the companies to try to reduce the cost and risk of exploring and developing large, complex fields in the Gulf’s deep waters at a time of low oil prices.
For BP, it allows the company to move some of its recent discoveries closer to production as it continues to work to settle claims resulting from its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf.
Mr. Reilly elected to take a leave of absence from his position as a Director of ConocoPhillips while serving as co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (the Commission). Following deliberations, the Commission issued its final report on January 11, 2011. On January 12, 2011, Mr. Reilly returned from his leave of absence and resumed active service as a Director of ConocoPhillips. As a consequence of his leave of absence, Mr. Reilly received no compensation during the period from July 2010 through December 2010.Yet, Mr. Reilly held onto his $2 million in ConocoPhillips stock during the BP oil spew investigation. Below is a picture of Reilly's ConocoPhillips board pay.
It's interesting to look at history and how a decision can lead to personal profit.
