He added, "We are highly fortunate to have a successor of the calibre of Bob Dudley who has spent his working life in the oil industry both in the U.S. and overseas and has proved himself a robust operator in the toughest circumstances."
Dudley, 54, is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently established unit responsible for cleanup operations and compensation programs in the Gulf. A Mississippi native, he joined BP from Amoco Corp. after the merger of the two companies in 1998. He was president and CEO of BP's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, until 2008. (Click here to read Dudley's biography.)
"I am honored to be given the job of rebuilding BP's strengths and reputation, but sad at the circumstances. I have the greatest admiration for Tony, both for the job he has done since he became CEO in 2007, and for his unremitting dedication to dealing with the Gulf of Mexico disaster," Dudley said. "I do not underestimate the nature of the task ahead, but the company is financially robust with an enviable portfolio of assets and professional teams that are among the best in the industry. I believe this combinationallied to clear, strategic directionwill put BP on the road to recovery."
On his appointment, Dudley will be based in London and will hand over his present duties in the United States to Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of McKay.)
"In this change of roles, I particularly want the people of the Gulf Coast to know that my commitment to remediation and restitution in the region is not lessened. I gave a promise to make it right and I will keep that promise," said Dudley.
Hayward will remain on the BP board until November 30. BP also plans to nominate him as a nonexecutive director of TNK-BP.
Commenting on the decision to step down, Hayward said: "The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for whichas the man in charge of BP when it happenedI will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie. From Day One I decided that I would personally lead BP's efforts to stem the leak and contain the damage, a logistical operation unprecedented in scale and cost. We have now capped the oil flow and we are doing everything within our power to clean up the spill and to make restitution to everyone with legitimate claims. I would like to thank all of the BP people involved in the response and the many thousands of others along the Gulf Coast who have joined us in our efforts."
He added, "I believe the decision I have reached with the board to step down is consistent with the responsibility BP has shown throughout these terrible events. BP will be a changed company as a result of Macondo and it is right that it should embark on its next phase under new leadership. I will be working closely with Bob Dudley over the coming months to ensure a smooth transition. It has been a privilege to serve BP for nearly 30 years and to lead it for the last three. I am sad to leave so many fine colleagues and friends who have helped this great company to achieve so much over the years. I am sorry that achievement has been overshadowed by the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico."
BP said that under the terms of his contract Hayward would receive a year's salary in lieu of notice, amounting to 1.045 million pounds ($1.63 million U.S.).
Dudley spoke to Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos about the management shakeup.(Click here toview the full GMA interview).
"I think sometimes events like this shake you to the core, the foundation, and you have two responses, one is to runaway and hide, the other is to respond and really change the culture of the company and make sure all the checks and balances are there, just to make sure this does not happen again," he told GMA. "We are going to hold ourselves to a higher standard, I suspect that the American people and the regulators in the United States will hold us to a higher standard. That seems reasonable to me and we are going to respond to that and we are going to change."
On the 99th day of the oil leak, Dudley said the first item on his agenda is to seal the well and cleanup the Gulf. BP will attempt the "static kill" well next week, said the report.
"It is a terrible tragic accident, we're going to learn a lot, the industry is going to learn a lot and there is no question we will change as a company and from those learnings," he said.
BP has set aside $32.2 billion for the oil leak, the company announced. BP suffered a second quarter loss of $17 billion, but the new CEO promised growth.
"BP will be a slightly smaller company. We've announced assets divestments between $25 and $30 billion, out of a company that has $250 billion worth of assets. It will be smaller and financially it will grow," Dudley said.
In the wake of a $17.15 billion second-quarter loss due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP PLC on Tuesday launched a radical shakeup, including plans to sell about $30 billion in assets, appoint a new CEO and alter the way it does business, said The Wall Street Journal.BP has already agreed to sell a package of assets in North America and Egypt valued at $7 billion to Apache Corp. The company is also in talks to sell its stake in Argentine unit Pan American Energy to Bridas Corp. for about $9 billion, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal. Some of BP's substantial assets in Alaska are also being offered to a number of potential buyers, said another person. BP has confirmed it will sell its natural gas assets in Pakistan and Vietnam.
In sacrificing Hayward and choosing Dudley, BP's board has made it clear that restoring the company's reputation in the United States is its top priority, analysts told the paper.
In a conference call with reporters, Hayward acknowledged that he had become, "a lightning rod for public anger," over the spill and it was necessary to have a new face at the top of the company if BP is to move forward in the United States.
The U.S. business is vital to BP, said the report. Around a quarter of its oil and gas production, and the greater part of its growth ambitions, come from that country. Dudley has a reputation as a BP troubleshooter, the Journal said. Until 2008, he ran BP's joint venture with a group of Russian billionaires, TNK-BP. Given the politically sensitive nature of Russia's oil and gas industry, Dudley was required to be a diplomat as much as an oil man. From 2003 to 2008, he appeared to have mastered this role as TNK-BP avoided many of the troubles faced by other oil companies and grew to be a major source of production and reserves for BP; however, Dudley ran into trouble in 2008 as tensions between BP and the billionaires over control of the venture boiled over into public acrimony. He was eventually forced to step down and became an executive director at BP.Meanwhile, to protest the environmental damage in the Gulf and to send a message to new BP management, Greenpeace activists shut down about 50 BP gas stations in Central London by disabling dispensers. They want BP to move "beyond petroleum," a statement said. Click hereto view video and photos.
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