BP defends Hayward after Russia comments

BP Plc defended its chief executive yesterday after Russia’s deputy prime minister said he expected Tony Hayward to resign soon, as a strengthening storm threatened efforts to capture more oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

British-based BP said Hayward remained CEO and no change was under discussion after Igor Sechin said he expected Hayward to resign and Russian officials would be told the name of his successor in Moscow yesterday.

However, Sechin’s office said later that management changes were not raised when he met Hayward and BP remained committed to its strategic partnership with Russia on various projects.

In the Gulf of Mexico, high waves from tropical storm Alex would delay BP’s plan to add more oil-siphoning capacity until next week, a company executive told reporters in Houston. Kent Wells, executive vice-president of exploration and production, said current siphoning systems were not expected to be affected by the storm, but waves as high as 12 feet would delay hooking up a third vessel to capture oil.

Hayward was in Russia to address Kremlin worries over BP’s local operations after the undersea leak that began on April 20, threatening fisheries, tourism and wildlife along the Gulf coast.

The embattled CEO has drawn criticism for his response to the disaster and a series of gaffes.

Forecasters from the National Hurricane Centre said “Alex could become a hurricane” by today.

The storm is expected to make landfall again between Brownsville, Texas, and Tuxpan de Rodriguez Cano in Mexico.

Shell shut subsea production at two platforms and BP evacuated some personnel from three Gulf of Mexico platforms due to the threat of Alex, the companies said on Sunday.

Although a hurricane would interrupt BP’s efforts to cap the well and clean up the spill, some specialists say the weather could actually help mitigate environmental damage by dispersing the oil.

US-listed shares of BP were up 2.5% to $27.64 yesterday, the first session after a sell-off that sent the stock to a 14-year low. Its shares have lost more than half their value since the spill began and are down more than 24% since the start of June.

“The move today is a reflection of the drop the stock saw last week. It was getting oversold and now we’re seeing a bounce off of that,” said Andy Fitzpatrick, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates in Hinsdale, Illinois.

BP said yesterday its spending to cap the well, clean up the spill and compensate those affected had accelerated to $100 million a day, bringing the total bill so far to $2.65 billion.

The company has set up a $20 billion compensation fund under pressure from the US government.