BP boss to say spill liabilities exceed $20bn
embattled BP chief executive Tony Hayward is expected to tell shareholders that liabilities connected to the Gulf of Mexico spill have passed $20bn (£13.2bn) when he outlines a new business strategy alongside the oil major’s second quarter results next Tuesday.
Hayward, who has recently been absent from the public eye, will tell shareholders that costs connected to the spill, including legal, clean-up and any fines, will climb beyond $20bn.
He is also expected to report that BP saw its year-on-year profits climb to $5bn during the
second quarter of the year.
Investors are expected be told that a leaner looking company can survive the impact of the Gulf oil spill, and Hayward will announce new drilling agreements in Egypt, Azerbaijan and Libya. BP refused to comment on the planned announcements.
The change of tact may help Hayward hang on to the top job at BP, but there are growing suggestions he will be forced to quit in three months.
BP has rigorously denied that Hayward, who took the helm in May 2007, will step down and reiterated that he had full support from the board.
The group faced further legal action in the US yesterday after it emerged that the Ohio and New York state pension funds have filed suits against BP for “securities fraud”.
The funds allege that BP had made “misleading and false statements about its safety and protocols”.
Meanwhile, Admiral Thad Allen, the US official overseeing the oil clean-up, said the team was in a good position to complete the relief well within the next few days but warned that a developing storm could hamper operations.
“Once the well is capped we expect BP’s share price performance to reflect the tension between investor fears on costs and litigation on the one hand offset by asset sales and merger speculation on the other,” said Deutsche Bank.