The Philippine Online Chronicles

Following great criticism over his response to the catastrophic incident in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the failure of his company’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP’s CEO Tony Hayward is now poised to leave the company, according to reports by many news agencies. The official announcement has not yet come from BP but many believe that an announcement is imminent. Despite the news, BP has recently said that Hayward has “the full support of the board and senior management.”

This comes as no surprise as the company has already been planning a change at the top office. Reports say that they were only trying to figure out just how much oil was spilled in the Deepwater Horizon project. The company is expected to release its second quarter results. Included in the details to be released would be their provision for the cleanup required in the Gulf of Mexico and nearby areas that have also been devastated by the disaster.

BP was successful in temporarily plugging the leak last week when they installed a cap on top of the busted well, for experimental purposes. The plan is to seal off the well again by using mud. This would keep the oil in the reservoir.

Hayward, a stalwart for the oil giant for over 28 years, assumed the position of CEO in 2007. While many BP executives have glowing reviews of Hayward, his handling of the oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana was less than stellar. He has been quoted for very insensitive comments to the media regarding the leak. In one interview he said he “just wanted his life back” and that the Gulf “is one big ocean” to seemingly make the problem a lot more insignificant.

He was also spotted to have participated in a sailing event off the Isle of Wight in June – just as when the disaster was unfolding. Criticism has come Hayward’s way from all quarters including the national government, state governments, environmentalists, celebrities and the people living on the Gulf Coast.

Expected to replace Hayward is Bob Dudley, who is currently the BP Managing Director. He took over the day-to-day operations in the Gulf last month. Unlike Hayward who is British, Dudley is an American who grew up near the area affected by the spill, in the US state of Mississippi, and according to BP he has an “affinity for the Gulf Coast”. Residents in the area could only hope for the best after suffering through the biggest oil spill in the history of the world.

Dudley joined BP in 1999 when a merger between the company and Amoco came to fruition. He has helped in running BP’s joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP.

Major news networks like CNN consider the move to change Hayward at this opportune time to be clever PR. Doing the switch at the top of the week gives the company a relatively cleaner slate as they present new figures regarding their earnings. Despite the tragedy, BP is still doing pretty well as a company.

Additional info: It has now been shared to the media that Dudley would only formally replace Hayward on October.