BP has announced that Tony Hayward is to step down as group chief executive with effect from October 1, 2010 and that he will be succeeded by an American, Robert Dudley.
"The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed incident. But it will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board," said BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg.
However, reports in The Australian have indicated that Hayward felt he had been "demonised and vilified" and he had said BP cannot move on from the disaster with him as the public face of the company.
Bob Dudley, 54 years old, is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently-established unit responsible for clean-up operations and compensation programmes in the Gulf of Mexico. He joined BP from Amoco after the merger of the two companies in 1998. He was president and CEO of BP's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, until 2008.
Hayward will remain on the BP board until November 30, 2010. BP also plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of TNK-BP.
Commenting on the decision to step down, Hayward said: "The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which – as the man in charge of BP when it happened – I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie.
BP said that under the terms of his contract Hayward would receive a year's salary in lieu of notice, amounting to GBP1.045 million (US$1.63 million).
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