BP Chief Executive Robert Dudley on Tuesday apologized his company's oil spill into the Gulf of Mexico and urged the world oil industry to take actions to avert similar devastating deepwater disasters.

"I am sorry for what happened last year," he told delegates from world major oil companies at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) Week conference in Houston. "BP is sorry. BP gets it. BP is changing," he added.

BP's Macondo well ruptured after an oil rig exploded and sank on April 20, spewing up to 4.9 million of barrels of oil into the ocean for nearly three months in the world's worst accidental marine spill.

"We need to earn back your trust, along with that of state and federal leaders and the trust of Gulf Coast residents and customers," he said, admitting that this required action not words.

He outlined the actions BP was taking, and measures he thought the oil industry need to take based on what BP had learned since the accident.

"We have paid over 5 billion dollars to meet claims by individuals, businesses and governments, and the Natural Resources Damages Assessment process is underway," he said.

Technically, Dudley pointed out, BP was strengthening and clarifying requirements for safe, compliant and reliable operations worldwide.

"We have decided we will not take rigs that do not conform to our standards and there are a number of cases where we have either turned away rigs or are negotiating for modifications which could bring the rig up to our standards," he said.

BP had created a Global Wells Organization responsible for the worldwide delivery of "safe and compliant" wells, according to Dudley.

The company was enhancing its own standards for blow-out preventer testing, cementing, well-integrity testing, rig audits and other well operations.

"We're strengthening safety, growing value and working to earn trust, but I believe the industry also has a responsibility to change," he warned the conference.

The CERA Week gathers more than 2,200 industry, policy and financial leaders from more than 55 countries to explore the challenges and opportunities facing the energy world.

This year's conference focuses on policy, markets, technology, price climate concerns and recognition of the sheer scale necessary to support the energy needs of a growing world.