BP’s CEO Hayward Gets His Life Back Reportedly in Russia

BP has named American Robert Dudley as CEO, in the wake of $17 billion in second quarter losses and mounting costs surrounding the nation’s largest spill.

Dudley, 54, will take over Oct. 1. He is currently a managing director of BP and spent time growing up in Hattiesburg, Miss. and is a veteran of the former Amoco Corp. bought by BP 12 years ago. There is speculation Dudley’s presence will offer a different public face for the company’s efforts to mend fences and clean up the Gulf spil.

Tony Hayward, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, is rumored to be moving on to head TNK-BP, a BP-owned joint venture in Russia, according to the Associated Press.

Hayward’s dismissal was confirmed after a BP meeting late Monday.

BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off of the coast of Louisiana on April 20. In total, 11 people lost their lives in the tragedy. The explosion set off one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

It also became the topic that would ultimately cost Heyward his job and the public’s confidence in his leadership and understanding of the scope of devastation.

As crude oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico, so did the flood of complaints about Hayward’s inappropriate responses to the crisis. In the days after the spill, he said that the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf was “tiny” compared to the entire body of water. At another point, Hayward complained publicly that he wanted the oil spill to stop because he “would like his life back” and faced a public backlash for his participation in an yacht sailing race since the disaster first began. The mounting criticism and public relations nightmare did not bode well for the company or its image.

Hayward has served as the CEO of BP since 2007. News of his possible departure sent the company’s stock shares higher in Monday’s trading on the New York and London stock exchanges.

A Chicago native, Bridgette has been a journalist since she first wrote for her seventh grade newsletter. Today, that passion is just as strong. She has written for several newspapers, including the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Defender, the Marshall News-Messenger (Texas) and the Springfield News-Sun (Ohio).

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