LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - BP 's chief executive Tony Hayward defended the oil giant's safety culture and told a UK parliamentary committee on Wednesday that the failings which caused the spill were not particular to BP.
"It's been easy for some parties to suggest that this is a problem with BP. I emphatically do not believe that that is the case," Hayward told the Energy and Climate Change Committee.
Hayward denied that there was any link between the accident and previous safety lapses at BP such as a 2005 refinery blast that killed 15 workers.
"It's very dangerous to join up dots that may not be appropriate to join up," he said.
Hayward said the decision of rivals such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mobil to criticise it in the wake of the disaster reflected the political climate in the United States at the time, rather than because of BP operating outside industry norms, as the companies said.
Hayward received a less confrontational treatment from the committee than he received from a U.S. Congressional committee which grilled him for several hours. (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Louise Heavens)