Spill liabilities expected to reach $30bn
BP IS expected to reveal that liabilities connected to the Gulf of Mexico spill have reached $30bn (£20bn) when it announces second quarter results tomorrow.
The group has already ring-fenced $20bn into an escrow fund to help pay out liabilities and claims, but it is expected that all legal, clean up and fine related costs BP has incurred since the 20 April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig will surpass that.
Chief executive Tony Hayward is also expected to tell shareholders tomorrow that although the group will post “clean” profits of more than $5bn, the company will take a significant hit from the spill, which is already the worst environmental disaster in US history.
BP would not comment on the financial results ahead tomorrow’s release, but it is expected that Hayward is also likely to reveal an overhaul of the company’s shape and size.
The group has already sold off $7bn in Canadian, American and Egyptian assets to US rival Apache, with an additional $1.7bn in the pipeline to be shed in Vietnam and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, BP is to start drilling off the Libyan coast within the next few weeks, despite calls from US officials to delay the move.
The drilling will take place in the Gulf of Sirte.
TONY HAYWARD
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
TONY HAYWARD took over the top post at BP when he was 53, pledging that his number one goal was safety.
He took over from former boss Lord Browne who was forced to retire in 2006.
Hayward, who has spent his entire 28-year career at the oil giant, had always been a strong advocate of safety at BP and at the time of his appointment he was famed for harshly criticising the company’s handling of the 2005 Texas City oil refinery explosion, which killed 15 people.
Before his appointment, he had been chief executive of exploration and production for four years.
BOB DUDLEY
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
BP SPILL boss Bob Dudley has been touted as the top candidate to take the chief executive spot once it is up for grabs.
Dudley, who is famed for his role at the helm of BP’s Russian arm TNK-BP, has been touted as the favorite for the post when current boss Tony Hayward steps down.
US-born and educated, and with a chemical engineering degree from the University of Illinois, he is widely viewed as an expert in the field, and could help to win back the confidence of the US government once the leak is killed. He lost to Hayward during the run-up to the top post in 2007.
IAIN CONN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
IAIN CONN, head of marketing and refining at BP, is cited as a possible successor to Tony Hayward once his post becomes vacant.
Conn could prove stiff competition to candidates vying for the top job as he has been monumental in ramping up BP’s safety procedures after the Texas City disaster.
Analysts have argued that someone with Conn’s experience should takeover the top post because BP needs this kind of experience to cope with the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico spill.
Conn has spent his entire career at BP and insiders have said that Conn is now in the right place at the right time to take the reins.