"The truth, always the truth--at all costs"
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| 9028 07/27/2010 BP Has Record Loss; Tony Hayward Gets "Retirement Wealth Richard Wray |
| http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/27/tony-hayward-leaves-bp-1m-payoff [The Guardian (UK)] BP makes record loss as Tony Hayward quits • Outgoing chief executive has £1m payoff and £10m pension pot • BP plunges into red after setting aside £20bn to meet costs of Gulf oil spill • Greenpeace protesters close 50 BP garages in London Richard Wray guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 27 July 2010 07.49 BST BP has reported one of the largest losses in British corporate history because of the cost of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and confirmed this morning that embattled chief executive Tony Hayward is leaving the company. In its second-quarter results the company has set aside $32.2bn (£20.7bn) to meet the cost of the clean-up, far higher than the City had expected and plunging the company into a $17bn loss, compared with a profit last year of $3.1bn. To pay for the mounting costs of the spill created by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig on 20 April, BP plans to sell $30bn worth of assets – predominantly oil and gas fields – over the next 18 months. Hayward will receive a £1m payoff and a pension expected to be worth about half a million pounds a year. He will be replaced by an American, Bob Dudley, a BP veteran who is currently overseeing the clean-up of the oil spill. Hayward, who will quit his post as chief executive in October and leave the board the following month, will become a non-executive director of the firm's Russian joint venture TNK-BP. News of the financial impact of the ruptured Macondo well in the Gulf comes as Greenpeace protesters have closed over 50 BP service stations in London. The environmental action group is calling on Hayward's successor to throw the weight of the company behind a push to create green and renewable sources of energy. Hayward, who has been widely criticised for his handling of the spill, is leaving after almost 30 years with BP. The company said that under the terms of his contract he will receive a year's salary in lieu of notice, amounting to £1.045m. He will also leave with a pension pot worth over £10m. "The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which – as the man in charge of BP when it happened – I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie," Hayward said in a statement. "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." BP's chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg added: "The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed incident. "BP remains a strong business with fine assets, excellent people and a vital role to play in meeting the world's energy needs. But it will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board." Svanberg has also been criticised for his handling of the spill. Last month he invoked political ire by referring to the residents of the Gulf coast as "small people". But he said the board had not asked him to stand down as well and he had no intention of leaving. The company's second-quarter results showed the full scale of the clean-up effort in the Gulf. Since oil first reached the shore, a total of 836 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have been affected. There have been more than 6,390 vessels (including skimmers, tugs, barges and recovery ships) and over 11 million feet of boom deployed offshore to reduce the amount of oil reaching the shoreline. The operations had recovered, in total, approximately 825,000 barrels of oily liquid. In addition, a total of 409 controlled burns had been carried out, removing an estimated 261,400 barrels of oil from the surface of the sea. In total, more than 40,000 people are involved across five states of the US. The results also set out the flurry of legal proceedings that the spill has created. BP is the subject of a US Department of Justice investigation to determine whether US civil or criminal laws have been violated; a US Presidential Commission to examine the causes of the incident; a joint investigation by the US Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (which until June 2010 was named the Minerals Management Service); an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other investigations by US state and federal agencies including the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board as well as the US Congress. In addition, BP group companies are among those named as defendants in more than 300 private civil lawsuits. |
