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when they believe thereʹs a hazard that we havenʹt addressed or thereʹs a
risk that needs to be dealt with.
450

Notwithstanding BP’s health and safety policies, as detailed earlier in this
Report, the Panel found that the company conducted drilling operations at
Macondo in a manner that increased the risks of the project.

7. Focus on Cost Savings

The Panel found evidence that BP personnel were compensated and their
performance reviewed, at least in part, based upon their abilities to control or
reduce costs. At some point in 2008, BP implemented an “every dollar counts”
program that was focused on reducing costs by improving the efficiency of
drilling operations.
451

Performance evaluations reflected this cost‐cutting focus. An
“operational” performance measure for BP drilling personnel was delivering a
well with costs under the authorized expenditure amount. There was no
comparable performance measure for occupational safety achievements.

The Panel reviewed performance evaluations conducted in 2009 of 13 BP
personnel involved in Macondo operations. These individuals had various
different responsibilities on the Macondo project; however, these evaluations
may not have been reflective of each person’s positions on April 20, 2010,
particularly given the number of reorganizations that occurred at BP. The Panel
found that 12 of the 13 evaluations completed by BP personnel captured costs
savings as a specific performance measure.

As mentioned previously in this Report, in the weeks leading up to April
20, the BP Macondo team made a series of operational decisions that reduced
costs and increased risks. For example, when considering the lock‐down sleeve
installation on the Macondo well in January 2010, Mark Hafle and Merrick Kelley
reviewed the $2.2 million of incremental cost benefit to BP. Hafle discussed this
further with Sims, and they agreed that BP should move forward with the lock‐
down sleeve installation after setting the surface cement plug and prior to the
departure of the Deepwater Horizon from the Macondo well. This decision

450 Wells testimony at 18.
451 Guide testimony, October 7, 2010, at 141‐43.

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