Literacy materials and operational expenses
BP has been a steady supporter of Cocky’s Reading Express, according to USC. Throughout the life of the program, the company has donated more than $150,000. “Previous donations have gone toward purchasing children’s books, literacy materials and operational expenses. Its largest donation was used to pay for the bus used to transport Cocky and student volunteers to schools and communities around the state,” USC’s press release states.
But according to BP’s recent report, $150,000 pales in comparison to the investments BP has made in the United States since 2009. The company’s donations to Cocky’s Reading Express are just a fraction of the $120 million spent directly on community programs from 2010 to 2013. Even that is sliver of what BP claimed it contributed to the U.S. economy in its recent Economic Impact Report for 2014.
“At BP, we take great pride in honoring our commitment to America,” BP’s report webpage states. The site’s interactive map offers a breakdown of the company’s economic impact, its different energy project and gauges its number of retail sites in each state.
“The numbers tell the story,” the report states. And those numbers, based on the company’s 2013 data, are hard to deny, though the report does note that all figures are approximate and rounded up. The London-based oil giant produces 628,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in the U.S., and an additional 189,000 boe were produced in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP has paid $3.4 billion in property and production taxes and royalties. Another $4.9 billion has been paid to salaries and benefits to its 18,000 U.S. employees. In addition, the company purports that its stateside business supports 200,000 jobs outside of its own employees. Overall, the company claims it generated an economic value of $143 billion for the country.