BP preparing for exit of chief executive Tony Hayward

The chief executive of BP, Tony Hayward, is understood to be negotiating the terms of his departure, which is set to be announced as soon as the next 24 hours.

The board of BP will meet tomorrow ahead of a stockmarket announcement on Tuesday. It is widely reported now that Hayward will leave as part of a strategic overhaul intended to re-build the group's reputation. It is thought likely that BP's managing director for Asia and the Americas, Bob Dudley, will take the top job.

Dudley, a Mississippian thought to have handled his role in the Gulf of Mexico well, would be a politically helpful figure for the group which is attempting to rebuild its reputation in America. He is also a veteran of difficult political situations having negotiated BP's position in Russia under heavy criticism from the Kremlin.

Hayward's fate has effectively been sealed by a series of significant PR gaffes ranging from telling press he hoped to 'get his life back soon' in the wake of the crisis and going sailing off Cowes at the height of the crisis.

The incoming chief executive faces the task of agreeing asset sales to fortify the group's cash position then attempting to re-build its US business while moving the group back to dividend-payment.

Analysis

Throughout the Gulf of Mexico crisis Hayward has certainly made some PR gaffes but when it comes to the actual execution of the actions designed to resolve the crisis BP must surely have been given a 9/10 under his leadership.

Investors believe he has been a solid chief with an impressive record improving the group's financial performance. A survey of 100 professional investors on Citywire this week found that 75% believe Hayward should stay. They will conclude this departure is unwarranted scapegoating.

The positive to come from his departure though will of course be some good will in the United States. Yet if BP believes its reputation can be quickly re-habilitated by this action then I suspect it will be disappointed.

It will attempt to aid this process through the appointment of the American Dudley. Certainly it will be much harder for the US Congress to blame the British for this crisis when the genuinely trans-Atlantic nature of the firm is underlined by the man at the top.

Ironically though whoever takes the top job next will think long and hard about the implications of continuing to re-build the group's deep-sea drilling business in America. It will know that any more accidents in America may prove to be prohibitively too expensive.