BP CEO to step down, be replaced by American
News
Posted By TOM BERGIN, REUTERS
Posted 1 month ago
BP Plc is expected to install an American known for diplomacy as chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward who has come under fire for his gaffe-prone handling of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
Bob Dudley, the U.S. executive managing the response operation to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, is poised to get the top job in the next 24 hours, a move that could soften U.S. criticism of the British oil major, sources close to the company say.
Hayward has described Dudley as BP's "Secretary of State" for his role overseeing the cleanup efforts. Dudley was previously head of BP's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. Sky News reported Hayward would be offered a position with TNK-BP.
Investors cheered Hayward's expected departure, sending BP shares up 4% in London and New York even though the company is widely expected to report billions of dollars in losses Tuesday when it releases quarterly results.
BP has lost 40% of its market capitalization since the April 20 blast that killed 11 and started a spill that has devastated fragile ecosystems and communities along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The BP spill has affected about 1,025 km of the Gulf Coast shoreline -- about 39% of the coast that stretches from Brownsville, Texas, to the Florida Keys.
Analysts said Hayward's exit was a positive for the stock because he had become an easy target for angry U.S. lawmakers and Gulf residents. Hayward, a 53-year-old geologist, was pilloried in the United States for complaining he wanted his "life back" weeks after the Deepwater Horizon offshore rig explosion.
"It is customary that when things don't go right, you are going to chop heads and usually that starts at the top," said Steve Goldman, a market strategist with money manager Weeden & Co in Greenwich, Connecticut.
BP's work to permanently plug the gushing well got back on track after a storm passed through the Gulf. The rig that has been drilling a relief well to plug the leak was back on site and reconnecting equipment to resume work.
More than five million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf, according to government estimates, hitting the coastlines of all Gulf states and killing or injuring countless sea creatures and coastal birds.
Once the last bit of pipe is cemented in place near the bottom of the relief well this week, BP will begin a "static kill" in the first week of August, according to the head of the U.S. spill response, Thad Allen.
That entails pumping heavy drilling mud and cement into the well from the top to seal it off once and for all.
Topic guidelines: We welcome your thoughts, stories and information related to this article.
Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers.
