BP calls on Kiwi smarts in bid to plug oil spill

New Zealand's penchant for innovation has been lauded by global oil giant BP, which is considering two ideas raised by Kiwis on how to fix one of the biggest ecological disasters in history.

But details of the business cases are being kept under wraps for now while BP's direct response team seeks more technical information on how they could help resolve the Gulf of Mexico spill.

BP New Zealand spokesperson Neil Green said the oil giant had been heartened by the 40,000 or so suggestions that had filtered through following the crisis, including about 40 or 50 from New Zealand, two of which the direct response team was keen to hear more about.

Green said BP New Zealand was facilitating communications between the direct response team and those with the ideas.

"The people who are providing the ideas need their IP protected so we can't discuss them now," he said.

BP is facing a storm of bad publicity over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but BP New Zealand said it had noticed no effect on business.

Among the ideas being received to plug the spill globally was a business that built portable homes for survivors of the Haiti earthquake, offering to do the same for members of the direct response team.

In addition, two BP New Zealand employees could soon be flying to the Gulf of Mexico to assist with clean-up efforts, although their exact role was still being defined.

"We don't have a lot of the skills in terms of on-water spill response, but we do have the ability to provide help in terms of logistics," Green said.

Greenstone Energy, which operates the Shell brand, said it had seen a growth in sales in the past two months, but stopped short of saying the Gulf of Mexico oil spill had driven business its way.

"The Shell retail network in New Zealand is now wholly New Zealand-owned and a lot of the feedback we have had is that people are choosing to support a locally owned service station," a spokesperson for the company said.

Greenstone Energy Limited is jointly owned by Infratil and the Guardians of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. It took over ownership of the Shell retail and distribution business in April.

Meanwhile, one Facebook page calling for a boycott of BP has attracted close to 32,000 fans, despite concerns supporters of such pages may be missing their intended target.

About half of BP services stations in New Zealand are independently owned.

Brand expert Brian Richards said Kiwis would forgive BP, but only if its chief executive Tony Hayward fronted up with a genuine apology.

"At the congress hearing he really didn't front up that well. He was very mouthy and non-committal. He did not express any degree of warmth or consideration."

A degree of humility by the CEO would go a long way, Richard said.

"When a global brand hits the rails we judge that brand by the behaviour of the leadership of the company."

"He (Hayward) should be seen to be having his sleeves rolled up down there by the Gulf of Mexico sorting it out - not saying I'm the head of a big army and I can be the general on the hill," he said.

"People will forgive global brands if they have an exemplary record, but I think it's about how the leadership handles it."