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HOUSTON CHRONICLE:

Update: Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen is saying that a saw has become stuck as it was cutting through a pipe on a busted well, stalling the latest attempt to contain the Gulf oil gusher. Allen said Wednesday the goal is to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day. This is the second major cut in the effort to contain - not plug - the nation's worst spill. Allen says the first cut with giant shears was successful overnight. The best chance at plugging the leak involves a relief well that is at least two months from completion. 

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In ‘different universes'
Such comments have only heightened anger against BP over its handling of the crisis, while his latest gaffe has fed criticism that Hayward is a wealthy executive out of touch with the situation on the ground.

"I think his idea of getting his life back and these folks' ideas of getting their lives back are different universes," said Kurt Arnold, a Houston attorney representing survivors and families of workers killed on the Deepwater Horizon.

Houston Attorney Kurt Arnold in Deepwater Horizon article

From the earliest days of the disaster, Hayward has been in the U.S., making frequent appearances on television and in Gulf Coast communities to stress that BP is doing all it can to cap the bleeding well, clean up the oil and pay claims. With his British accent, calm demeanor and sharp grasp of technical details, he has been the picture of confidence.

But Mary Ann Ferguson, a professor in the department of public relations at the University of Florida, said some of Hayward's statements run counter to prevailing theory about how companies should handle major problems, and have not exhibited enough humility and empathy.

"In a crisis as severe as this one, the only appropriate response is mortification," she said. "Anything else simply is not going to be accepted by the public."

But Andrew Gowers, head of BP communications in London, defended Hayward. "This has been a rapidly evolving situation and a number of comments that may have seemed appropriate at the time can be rapidly overtaken," he said in an e-mail.

For instance, when Hayward suggested the spill's impact would be modest, oil had not yet reached the shore, Gowers said.

On Tuesday, officials estimated oil has fouled 100 miles of Louisiana coastline.

There's also a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't aspect that makes it impossible for Hayward to avoid criticism. Last month, for example, he was blasted when he returned home to London briefly for a board meeting and to celebrate his 53rd birthday, after previously vowing to stay in the U.S. until the crisis was resolved.

If he had ducked interviews, he would have been savaged by the public. When he does them, he is criticized for not saying the right thing.

Still, silence may be the better course, considering BP could now face criminal charges for the accident, Carville said.

"The best thing for him to probably say is precisely and exactly nothing," Carville said. "The very sight of him doesn't do anything but outrage people."

Earlier praise
That Hayward now is taking hits in his role as ambassador for the company on the spill is surprising given the good marks he has received for turning BP around since becoming CEO in 2007.

He is credited with fixing many of the problems inherited from his ousted former boss John Browne, who was at the helm during the 2005 blast at BP's Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers, a trading scandal and a major Alaska pipeline spill in 2006. Last year, Hayward made $4.6 million in salary and bonuses, not including stock options, for his efforts.

Now, said Edward Jones analyst Brian Youngberg, Hayward never will escape the legacy of the spill, which already has reduced BP's market value by an estimated $74 billion. "This will define his career," Youngberg said.

But Hayward's public remarks about the spill probably haven't endangered his job, Youngberg said, and he will be graded more on the effectiveness of the cleanup and how long it takes to plug the Macondo well.

Gowers, with BP, said Hayward has the "strong and unanimous" backing of BP's board.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/deepwaterhorizon/7032122.html

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