BP yet to decide Hayward's fate

26th Jul 2010 07:10

BP has confirmed it will hold a board meeting today to decide the fate of chief executive Tony Hayward, but said no final decision has been made. Widespread reports over the weekend suggested Hayward is set to step down, but BP said its board will decide this evening on his future and also on the size of any provisions for the Gulf of Mexico disaster.BP releases its second quarter figures tomorrow with estimates of the provisions for possible compensation and clean-up costs as high as $30bn. The firm has already agreed to put $20bn into an escrow account at the insistence of the US government.Hayward has been heavily criticised over BP's attempts to stem the oil leak and the subsequent clean-up operation. A series of PR gaffes and repeated under-estimates by the firm 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.Bob Dudley, who recently took over the handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, is widely tipped as the likely replacement as chief executive if Hayward does step down.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.