Committee members and Tony Hayward made opening statements about the role of BP in the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil rig explosion and oil spill. Members criticized the company and focused on BP documents which showed the company had disregarded safety concerns at the oil rig site and had cut corners to save money. Representative Barton, however, apologized to BP for the White House "shakedown" in which BP agreed to set aside $20 billion for damage claims.

In his remarks Mr. Hayward offered his condolences to the families and friends of the 11 people who died in the explosion and apologized to the American people for the incident.