Greenpeace Shuts Down London BP Stations

LONDON—Environmental group Greenpeace shut down the fuel supplies to dozens of BP PLC petrol stations in London, in a protest timed to BP's quarterly report Tuesday, in which it announced a massive loss and named a new chief executive.
On Tuesday, around 75 activists simultaneously took over about 46 stations across London in the early hours of the morning, according to John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace U.K. The activists immediately removed the pump switches from the site to disable the petrol pumps and prevent the stations from serving fuel to customers, Mr. Sauven said. The protest is expected to end later Tuesday.

A BP spokesman, however, said only 35 sites were impacted, with some of the affected stations being able to sell food but not able to supply fuel.
During the protests, the volunteers replaced BP's logo with its an altered logo showing its green and yellow sunflower sinking into a sea of oil.
"We want to use this opportunity to make BP think about the direction the company is taking beyond its announcement that it is switching bosses, catastrophic losses and dodgy pension deals," Mr. Sauven said.
The protest came as BP formally named Bob Dudley as its new CEO, succeeding Tony Hayward, who is stepping down following record losses triggered by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Greenpeace was dismissive of the management shake-up. "It is all very well changing Tony [Hayward] for Bob [Dudley] and before that it was John [Browne] but changing a CEO doesn't change the situation at the company. In fact, [Mr. Hayward] took the company backwards into the deep waters of Mexico," said Mr. Sauven.
Greenpeace volunteers intended to stage their protest against BP for a day only and were clear this wasn't targeted at some of the franchisees who run the BP's petrol stations. "This is not a protest against the franchises but against BP," said Anna Jones, a 29-year-old Greenpeace volunteer who arrived at a BP petrol station in Camden in North London at 5:30 a.m. and who was in charge of replacing BP's logo.
"The green logo doesn't properly reflect the company and it is time for them to admit that they are going in the wrong direction," she said.
No arrests have been madeas of midday, and BP said it isn't sure whether it plans to press charges against the protesters. "We are working together with the police on determining further action [against Greenpeace]. Our priority is the safety of our staff and customers and to guarantee the sites are fully operation as soon as possible," a BP spokesman said.