BP boss defends safety record in North Sea as spills fall by 20pc

Mr Hayward spoke yesterday as he was grilled by a committee of MPs investigating the implications of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill for offshore drilling in Britain.

In his first public appearance in Britain since the Deepwater Horizon explosion, he said the disaster had been personally "devastating" because he had made safety the firm's top priority. But he was forced to explain why inspections on BP's North Sea installations found some did not comply with guidelines over regular training for operators on how to respond to an incident.

Department of Energy and Climate Change inspectors also found the firm had not conducted oil spill exercises properly at some of its offshore sites.

The Energy and Climate Change Committee is looking at whether Britain's regime is fit for purpose and the risks of drilling off the coast of Scotland, amid fears a spill could occur.

Mr Hayward told the MPs: "I do not believe that the issues that were reported point to any fundamental weakness in our North Sea operations.

"We have a very strong track record in the North Sea. It is better than the industry average.

"BP spills, which are a good indicator of safety performance in terms of integrity of plant, have fallen by 20 per cent over the last two years and we lead the industry in terms of that particular metric in the North Sea."

Last week oil and gas industry leaders in Britain insisted there was "no case" for a moratorium on offshore drilling in deep water here in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

Mr Hayward is stepping down as chief executive on October 1.