He won widespreadsupportin the company's lower ranks in the wake of the TexasCitydisasterwhenhecriticisedBP for "a leadershipstyle thatis toodirective and doesn'tlisten sufficiently well".
His final years were marred by a succession of devastating accidents an explosion at BP's TexasCity refinery in 2005 that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others, and an oil spill a year later that dumped 4, 800 barrels of oil at Prudhoe Bay, on the coast of Alaska.