Outgoing BP Chief: 'Life's Not Fair'
SKY NEWS: The outgoing BP chief executive Tony Hayward says he feels "demonised and vilified" over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as the firm posts one of the biggest corporate losses in history. Joel Hills reports.



No, Tony, life certainly isn't fair when people who screw-up can walk away from a company with millions in the form of a golden parachute, yet others work all their lives, do things well, but walk away with next to nothing. Life certainly isn't fair. You got that right! – © Mark

BP Oil Spill: Tony Hayward Replaced by Bob Dudley as Oil Giant Slumps to Record Loss
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Hayward has resigned as chief executive of BP, after the energy giant announced a record $17bn loss this year on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.



The oil company also said that Bob Dudley, the American in charge of BP’s oil spill response unit, will now take over on October 1 and lead the company through an accelerated programme of $30bn in asset sales. BP made “clean” profits of $5bn, stripping out the effect of inventory changes and exceptionals, but took a $32.2bn pre-tax charge on the oil spill.

This is made up of a $20bn compensation fund for victims, clean-up charges and provisions for funding costs. The “clean” profits are a 74pc rise in last year’s figure of $2.9bn, as a result of higher oil prices and more efficient operations. BP will now press ahead with becoming smaller and more profitable, selling $30bn of exploration and production assets in the next 18 months.

Mr Dudley will also have to navigate a criminal investigation into the spill, a slew of litigation and ward off rivals seeking to pounce on the company's trophy assets. Dudley, who ran BP's troubled Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, said last month that for BP to "remain strong and viable in the US, it has a great deal of work to do." >>> Rowena Mason | Tuesday, July 27, 2010

DAILY EXPRESS: BP Boss Tony Hayward Sent to Siberia in £12m Exit Deal: BP boss Tony Hayward is to be sent to Siberia in a £12million exit deal designed to quell outrage in the United States, it emerged last night. >>> Padraic Flanagan | Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Le patron de BP quittera son poste en octobre
CYBERPRESSE: Une source officielle a confirmé lundi que le chef de la direction de BP (BP), Tony Hayward, démissionnerait de son poste en octobre pour accepter un emploi avec TNK-BP, une coentreprise de la pétrolière en Russie.

L'image publique de Tony Hayward était devenue étroitement liée aux ratés de BP dans ses efforts pour maîtriser la fuite de pétrole dans le golfe du Mexique, qui a coûté plusieurs millions de dollars en dommages. >>> La Presse Canadienne, Nouvelle-Orléans | Lundi 26 Juillet 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: BP’s Hayward to resign in October: Embattled CEO will take job with company’s joint venture in Russia, official says >>> Harry R. Weber, New Orleans, The Associated Press | Monday, July 26, 2010

BP Blunderer's Golden Goodbye: Hayward Exits with £10m Pension Pot as an American Replaces Him
MAIL ONLINE: The embattled head of BP is on the brink of bailing out today - with a golden parachute to break his fall.

Tony Hayward, who arrived at the company's headquarters in London this morning, will receive a seven-figure payoff and a pension estimated at £584,000 a year.

He will stand down today after three months of abuse left him described as the ‘most hated and clueless man in America’.

The enforced departure of the 53-year-old Briton will top the agenda at a crucial London board meeting today.

He has been widely seen as a ‘dead man walking’ ever since an oil-rig explosion led to the worst-ever environmental disaster in the U.S.

The focus will not be on if he goes but when, and how much it costs. During his 28 years at BP, he has built up a gold-plated £10.8million pension pot which he can start taking at 60.

He is also entitled to a year’s salary, equal to just over £1million.

His departure follows a disastrous series of PR gaffes since 11 died in an explosion on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico.

One of his most notorious was to admit: ‘I want my life back’, at a time when millions of barrels of oil were gushing into the ocean, wrecking the livelihoods of thousands of Americans.

A few weeks later, his decision to go sailing on his yacht in the Isle of Wight added to suspicions that Mr Hayward was not being suitably contrite. But the level of the fury from America has been extraordinary and relentless despite the fact that BP was not solely responsible for the disaster.

President Obama warned: ‘He wouldn’t be working for me after any of those statements.’

Yesterday a BP spokesman insisted that Mr Hayward, whose family have been the victims of crank phone calls, hate mail and death threats, remains the company’s chief executive.

But his departure is inevitable, and will be the second headline-grabbing exit of a BP chief executive in just three years. In 2007, his predecessor Lord Browne dramatically resigned after admitting lying on oath to a High Court judge. >>> Becky Barrow and Daniel Bates | Monday, July 26, 2010

BP Chief Tony Hayward 'Negotiating Exit Deal'
BBC: BP's chief executive Tony Hayward has been negotiating the terms of his exit, with a formal announcement likely within 24 hours, the BBC has learnt.

Mr Hayward has been widely criticised over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said it was likely he would be replaced by his US colleague Bob Dudley, now in charge of the clean-up operation.

BP said Mr Hayward "remains our chief executive and has the full support of the board and senior management".

Our correspondent added that while BP had been preparing for a change at the top for some time, the company was waiting until progress had been made on stemming the leak and until it was possible to quantify the financial costs of the disaster.

BP is due to release its results for the second quarter on Tuesday.

It is expected to reveal a provision of up to $30bn (£19bn) for the costs of capping the well, compensation claims and fines to be paid, resulting in a massive quarterly loss.

BP's board is scheduled to meet on Monday ahead of the results.

Mr Hayward has been with the company for 28 years. >>> | Sunday, July 25, 2010

'Reckless' BP Blamed by Partner for Oil Spill
THE TELEGRAPH: Oil giant BP came under further pressure on Saturday after one of its partners said the company's "gross negligence or wilful misconduct" were to blame for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Anadarko Petroleum, which owns a quarter of the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well, has refused to accept any blame for the explosion that killed 11 workers and sparked America's worst environmental disaster.

The company's chairman and chief executive Jim Hackett insisted in a statement that BP should foot the entire bill for the environmental and economic damage caused by the blow out.

Mr Hackett said: "Frankly, we are shocked. BP's behaviour and actions likely represent gross negligence or wilful misconduct."

He said that "mounting evidence clearly demonstrates" that the disaster that led to the explosion and sinking of a drilling rig and the deaths of 11 workers "was preventable and the direct result of BP's reckless decisions and actions." >>> Patrick Sawer | Saturday, June 19, 2010

BP's Tony Hayward Savaged by US Congressmen Over Oil Spill
THE TELEGRAPH: BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward has been subjected to a blistering attack by US Congressmen over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, who accused the company of “astonishing complacency”.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward was singled out for failing to ignore warnings signs before the fatal rig explosion. Photograph: The Telegraph
The boss of the oil giant was appearing before an influential committee a day after pledging a £13.5bn compensation fund to make amends for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Britain’s largest firm was condemned for increasing the risk of a “catastrophic blowout” by cutting “corner after corner”. It was accused of having a “cavalier attitude towards risk”.

Mr Hayward was singled out for failing to ignore warnings signs before the fatal rig explosion, which left 11 people dead and hundreds of thousands of barrels of oils spewing into the Gulf. BP has failed to contain the leak despite numerous attempts.

Henry Waxman, a California Democrat known as one of the toughest investigators in Congress, told Mr Hayward: “There is not a single email or document that shows that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.

“There is a complete contradiction between BP’s words and deeds. You were brought in to make safety the top priority of BP, but under your leadership, BP has taken the most extreme risks.”

In a pointedly nationalist remark, Bart Stupak, from Michigan, said that while Mr Hayward could take “a golden parachute back to England, we in America are left to recover for years from the disaster”. >>> Alex Spillius, in Washington | Thursday, June 17, 2010

It really is difficult to see how Tony Hayward can remain in his position as BP’s chief executive. The buck stops with him. If the man had any honour, he’d resign; and without the golden parachute that these people have come to expect in recent years. The company, BP, has fouled up under his watch. The consequences should be faced. – © Mark

BP Agrees to $20 Billion Escrow Fund; Cancels Dividends
President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, right, meet with BP executives at the White House. BP has agreed to put $20 billion into an escrow account for reimbursing oil spill damages. Photograph: Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Reporting from Washington -- The Obama administration has reached a preliminary agreement with BP executives that would see the oil company pay $20 billion over several years into an independently controlled escrow account to be established to compensate Gulf of Mexico residents affected by the disastrous oil spill, and BP's board of directors has eliminated the company's stock dividend, at least temporarily.

The agreement on the escrow was negotiated in a meeting at the White House on Wednesday morning, the first face-to-face gathering between President Obama and senior BP leadership. A White House official said that, under the terms of the deal, the fund would be administered by attorney Kenneth Feinberg, currently serving as the special master for executive pay under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Feinberg ran a fund that compensated victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Immediately after the meeting, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said that the oil company's board of directors has decided not to pay any more dividends this year. >>> Mike Memoli and Peter Nicholas | Wednesday, June 16, 2010

BP to Set Aside $20 Billion for Oil Spill Claims


BP Promises to Repair Damages to Gulf Region

Gulf of Mexico BP Oil Spill: Nick Clegg Warns Barack Obama Over 'Megaphone Diplomacy'
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg today warned that the BP disaster threatened to descend into “megaphone diplomacy” following Barack Obama’s fierce criticism of the British company.

Nick Clegg made the comments when asked for his response to President Obama's call for the sacking of BP chief executive Tony Hayward. Photo: The Telegraph
In a thinly veiled attack on the US President – who earlier this week said he was looking for “some ass to kick over the disaster” – the Deputy Prime Minister argued that a “tit for tat” attitude was not helpful.

But Mr Clegg stopped short of voicing support for the British company, which has seen billions of pounds wiped off its share value since the leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I’m not going to start intervening in a debate which clearly risks descending into megaphone diplomacy,” Mr Clegg told an audience at the Nueva Economic Forum in Madrid on Friday morning.

“I think everyone is united on both sides of Atlantic obviously, quite rightly, and understandably within US administration and I’m sure within BP itself, to deal with this problem. It is an ecological catastrophe – It does need to be dealt with."

Nick Clegg made the comments when asked for his response to President Obama's call for the sacking of BP chief executive Tony Hayward. >>> Fiona Govan in Madrid | Friday, June 11, 2010

BP Oil Spill: David Cameron Backs Barack Obama's Hardline Stance
THE TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has backed Barack Obama in his criticism of BP over the Gulf oil spill.

Tony Hayward has been 'beaten up' by Barack Obama over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Photographs: The Telegraph
The oil firm has seen almost £50 billion wiped off its value since oil began leaking from one of its pipelines following an explosion on a gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Investors say the hardline approach taken by Mr Obama – who has promised to "kick ass" over the incident – has contributed to the share price declines. The US administration last night threatened to block BP paying a dividend in order to ensure victims of the spill off the coast of Louisiana got sufficient compensation.

The pension funds of millions of Britons have been hard hit – as exposure to BP, Britain's biggest company, is high.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, this morning became the most senior UK politician to defend BP, saying "anti-British rhetoric" levelled at the company was a matter of "national concern" and that the oil giant was paying "a very, very heavy price" for what had been an accident.

"I would like to see a bit of cool heads rather than endlessly buck-passing and name-calling," he said. "When you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten up on the airwaves."

Speaking to reporters in Afghanistan, Mr Cameron refused to follow suit, instead offering his backing to Washington. >>> James Kirkup | Thursday, June 10, 2010