BP is expected to announce changes at the top today with the anticipated departure of chief executive Tony Hayward, who has come under fire for his handling of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The firm said “no final decision” had been taken on Mr Hayward’s future but his fate is set to be sealed at a board meeting this evening.
His departure is likely to be confirmed tomorrow alongside provisions running into tens of billions of dollars for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which has triggered the worst crisis in the company’s long history.
Mr Hayward would 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.
Mr Hayward was widely criticised in the United States for complaining he wanted his "life back" weeks after the April 20th 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.
The appointment of Mr Dudley, the US executive managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, could soften US criticism of the British oil major, sources close to the company say.
Investors cheered Mr Hayward's expected departure, sending BP shares up 4 per cent in London and New York. BP has lost 40 per cent of its market capitalisation since the April 20th blast that killed 11 and started a spill that has devastated fragile ecosystems and communities along the US Gulf Coast.
The sources said BP's board, meeting in London, would discuss a plan for Mr Hayward's departure today. The boardroom drama unfolded as the company was due to report second quarter results tomorrow.
BP's efforts to contain the gushing oil have been watched closely by investors because its ultimate costs may hinge on how much oil is determined to have flowed into the Gulf.
BP, which has lost 40 per cent of its market capitalisation since the blast that caused the spill, would not comment on the reports and said Mr Hayward remained the chief executive, with the full support of the board and management.
With the well sealed since July 15th by a temporary cap, the board's concern has shifted to the market's preoccupation about Mr 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 rig was reconnecting equipment, a BP spokeswoman said. Other vessels that had left the region Friday to get out of the path of what was Tropical Storm Bonnie were also returning.
As remnants of the storm dissipated on Saturday, the head of the US spill response, 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 yesterday, Mr 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.
Reuters, PA