BP changes head amid huge loss

Narayan Lakshman

Washington: To save what is left of its reputation, BP has announced that its gaffe-prone British CEO, Tony Hayward, will be replaced by an American, the head of mop-up operations in the Gulf of Mexico Robert Dudley.

The company said Mr. Hayward would stop functioning as group chief executive with effect from October 1, 2010.

The announcement came even as BP admitted that it had made a record “replacement cost” loss during the second quarter of the year, amounting to a staggering $17 billion. The company said it was facing a charge of $32.2 billion, “to reflect the impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including costs to date of $2.9 billion for the response and a charge of $29.3 billion for future costs, including the funding of the $20 billion escrow fund”.

Remarking on the financial results, Mr. Hayward said: “We expect we will pay the substantial majority of the remaining direct spill response costs by the end of the year. Other costs are likely to be spread over a number of years...”