"When my dad put up his new office building in Lafayette, he told me this at dinner, it was going to cost just over three million dollars. But they'd have to remove a live oak that was about a hundred and fifty years old. So my dad had the plans changed. He built his office at right angles, sort of around the tree, and it cost him another half million....What do you think that says about him?"
It was quiet in the room. Jack could feel the vodka, a good feeling in the soft lamplight. He liked the fit of the deep-cushioned wicker chair; he could fall asleep here. Lucy waited, not far away, on the end of the sofa close to his chair, legs crossed. She leaned forward now to reach her sherry. He thought of ways to answer, moved only his arm, slowly, to raise the glass, and gazed at banana trees before taking a sip.
"He loves nature."
"Is that why he's contaminating the Gulf?"
"I thought he leased helicopters."
"He's in the oil business. He's been in the oil business all his life. My mother calls him Texas Crude. Men in her family wore white linen suits and owned sugar plantations in Plaquemines."
"I'm not good at environment," Jack said. He could fall asleep by closing his eyes. "Or, what's that other word, ecology. I'm weak in those areas."
"You see my dad as a nice guy."
"I think he works at it some. Wants to give you that impression, one of the boys."
She said, "Then you know he's not just good old Dick Nichols, he's Dick Nichols Enterprises. He sings Cajun songs, eats squirrel and alligator tail, but he's also been to the White House for dinner, twice. He loves nature as long as he and his pals can suck oil out of it and he doesn't give a damn about that tree. He's using it. He's the guy at the Petroleum Club with the live oak that cost him half a million dollars."
- Elmore Leonard, Bandits.
We have the tar - God knows there's no shortage - and we certainly have the feathers, already pre-tarred, pelicans being an obvious source, but not the only one from "The Pelican State". You have to wonder what the boys over at Morgan City are thinking of the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival at this particular moment in time. I mean, if you throw a shrimp on the barbeque, would it be safe to eat, or - more to the point - be a neighourhood fire hazard?
The board
Carl-Henric Svanberg
Chairman
Carl-Henric Svanberg's biography
Tony Hayward
Group chief executive
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Tony Hayward's biography
Iain Conn
Chief executive, Refining and Marketing
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Iain Conn's biography
Robert Dudley
Managing director
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Robert Dudley's biography
Byron Grote
Chief financial officer
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Byron Grote's biography
Andy Inglis
Chief executive, Exploration and Production
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Andy Inglis's biography
Paul Anderson
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Paul Anderson's biography
Antony Burgmans, KBE
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman’s, the remuneration and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Antony Burgman's biography
Cynthia Carroll
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman’s and safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Cynthia Carroll's biography
Sir William Castell, LVO
Non-executive director and senior independent director
Chairman of the safety, ethics and environment assurance committee, member of the chairman's and nomination committees
Sir William Castell's biography
George David
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's, the audit and the remuneration committees
George David's biography
Ian Davis
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's, the audit and the remuneration committees
Ian Davis's biography
Douglas Flint, CBE
Non-executive director
Chairman of the audit committee, member of the chairman's and nominations committees
Douglas Flint's biography
Dr DeAnne Julius, CBE
Non-executive director
Chairman of the remuneration committee, member of the chairman’s and nomination committees
Dr DeAnne Julius' biography
David Jackson
Company secretary
David Jackson was appointed company secretary in 2003. A solicitor, he is a director of BP Pension Trustees Limited, and a member of the Listing Authorities Advisory Committee.
The board
Carl-Henric Svanberg
Chairman
Carl-Henric Svanberg's biography
Tony Hayward
Group chief executive
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Tony Hayward's biography
Iain Conn
Chief executive, Refining and Marketing
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Iain Conn's biography
Robert Dudley
Managing director
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Robert Dudley's biography
Byron Grote
Chief financial officer
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Byron Grote's biography
Andy Inglis
Chief executive, Exploration and Production
Executive member of the BP board of directors
Andy Inglis's biography
Paul Anderson
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Paul Anderson's biography
Antony Burgmans, KBE
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman’s, the remuneration and the safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Antony Burgman's biography
Cynthia Carroll
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman’s and safety, ethics and environment assurance committees
Cynthia Carroll's biography
Sir William Castell, LVO
Non-executive director and senior independent director
Chairman of the safety, ethics and environment assurance committee, member of the chairman's and nomination committees
Sir William Castell's biography
George David
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's, the audit and the remuneration committees
George David's biography
Ian Davis
Non-executive director
Member of the chairman's, the audit and the remuneration committees
Ian Davis's biography
Douglas Flint, CBE
Non-executive director
Chairman of the audit committee, member of the chairman's and nominations committees
Douglas Flint's biography
Dr DeAnne Julius, CBE
Non-executive director
Chairman of the remuneration committee, member of the chairman’s and nomination committees
Dr DeAnne Julius' biography
David Jackson
Company secretary
David Jackson was appointed company secretary in 2003. A solicitor, he is a director of BP Pension Trustees Limited, and a member of the Listing Authorities Advisory Committee.
