BP’s embattled CEO, Tony Hayward who came under fire for his handling of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is anticipated to announce his resignation.
Changes at the top of the company will follow with Hayward most likely to be replaced by Bob Dudley, an American executive who is now managing the oil spill response operation, according to sources close to the British oil giant.
In a hastened response to media speculation on the matter, BP, which has lost 40% of its market capitalisation since the blast that caused the spill, said in a statement Monday that no final decision has been made on this as a board meeting will be held on Monday evening ahead of the announcement of the second quarter results on 27th July.
Hayward was widely criticised in the United States for complaining he wanted his “life back” weeks after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the worst oil spill in US history.
He was also lambasted by angry American lawmakers at a congressional hearing, where he was accused of ducking responsibility for the spill.
Analysts at Barclays bank said BP could report a loss for the second quarter of US$13 billion as it makes provisions of up to $25 billion for the cost of the oil spill – far outweighing an expected 77% jump in underlying profits.
Last week BP announced that it would be selling off some of its North American and Egyptian assets to Apache Corporation for $7 billion to go towards a $10 billion oil spill clean up fund.Â
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With the gushing well sealed since July 15 by a temporary cap, the board’s concern has shifted to the market’s preoccupation about Hayward’s future, which is making it hard for the company to move forward, the sources said.
Clearing weather in the spill zone allowed work to resume on drilling a relief well to plug the leak that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf for three months.
A Transocean Ltd rig was reconnecting equipment, a BP spokeswoman said. Other vessels that had left the area Friday to get out of the path of Tropical Storm Bonnie were also returning.
As remnants of the storm dissipated on Saturday, the head of the US spill response, National Incident Commander, Thad Allen, said a “static kill” operation to plug the well with heavy drilling mud and possibly cement could start in three to five days.
Although vessels were returning to the site on Sunday, Allen said the storm could push back BP’s mid-August target date for completing the relief well, seen as the only permanent fix to the leak, by seven to nine days.
