BP’s Hayward to leave as CEO; Russia job in works

Tony Hayward, who became the face of BP’s flailing efforts to contain the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, will step down as chief executive in October and be offered a job with the company’s joint venture in Russia, says a person familiar with the matter. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made by the British company’s board, which was meeting today in London to decide Hayward’s fate. The decision is the board’s to make, and it was unclear when the official spoke whether it had formally done so. Nor is it clear yet what Hayward’s role will be with TNK-BP. The CEO left the board meeting today without speaking to reporters, climbing into a silver Lexus that sped off. BP owns half of the TNK-BP oil firm, which is the third largest in Russia; it was once run by American Bob Dudley, now the odds-on favorite to replace Hayward as BP CEO. After Hayward made a series of missteps, including telling reporters he wanted his life back—even as gulf residents struggled to deal with hardships caused by the spill—Dudley took over as BP’s point man in dealing with it. Dudley was in London today with other board members.