BP battles to repair battered image as chief ‘steps down’

BP LAUNCHED a plan to repair its battered image in the United States yesterday, ditching its gaffe-prone chief executive and promising to slim down by trebling an asset sale target to $30 billion (€23bn).

However, the company, facing public anger over the biggest oil spill in US history, tempted further ire by denying it needed cultural change and by offsetting the costs of the spill against its taxes.

The tax move will cost the US taxpayer almost $10 billion (€7.6bn).