BP chief Hayward tipped to stand down

25th Jul 2010 11:56

Tony Hayward, the embattled chief of BP is expected to stand down from the oil giant within the next twenty-four hours, according to widespread reports on Sunday.Bob Dudley, who recently took over the handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak that has brought the company to crisis point, is widely tipped as his likely successor. A meeting of the BP board is underway with the main topics of conversation said to be when to break the news and the level of compensation to be paid to Hayward, who has been with BP for 28 years. BP publishes its second quarter results on Tuesday and the board are said to be keen to use the announcement to draw a line under the disaster in the Gulf.The oil company's share price has plunged by a third since 20 April, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up, killing eleven people and starting the worst environmental disaster in US history.Hayward has been heavily criticised for his handling of the attempts to stem the oil leak and the subsequent clean-up operation. A series of PR gaffes and repeated under-estimates by BP of the scale of the leak have also made him a high-profile target for both the US public and politicians.The BP board is now said to believe that its needs a change at the top to repair the damage to its reputation. Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg's position is unclear, though one report said he is expected to stay on and oversee a complete overhaul of the operational systems at the company.Second quarter results will bear the scars of the Gulf catastrophe with huge provisions to cover possible damages, in addition to the $20bn BP has agreed to put into an escrow account on the insistence of the US government.Analysts suggest the additional provision could be as high as $30bn, though some still estimate BP could post a "clean" profit, stripping out the one-offs, of up to $10bn.