Feds grill former BP chief Hayward

Grilled by the Justice Department and plaintiffs suing the oil giant he once ran, former BP chief Tony Hayward fought off accusations that he sought to prop up the company’s falling share price through his subordinates’ daily briefings on the gulf oil spill, and that the firm failed to keep its promise to share its data on how much crude was spewing into the sea, documents obtained by The Associated Press show. During a sworn deposition by Hayward last month in London, an attorney for Louisiana pointed to an e-mail Hayward sent to an aide asking him to arrange a media briefing to counter information that was hurting BP stock. The share price rose after the briefing. The deposition was part of ongoing litigation against the British firm and other companies involved in the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster. The government is among the parties suing BP, and is expected to impose fines for Clean Water Act violations, potentially totaling billions of dollars. Hayward is considered a critical witness, since he headed BP during and after the disaster until he was ousted in October. The deposition, which has not been publicly released, was taken over several days in London beginning June 6. During the deposition, attorneys raised questions about Hayward’s sincerity when he said he had the best interest at heart of all those hurt by the gulf oil spill.