BP is replacing CEO Tony Hayward with Managing Director
Robert Dudley, selling $30 billion in assets and setting aside $32.2 billion to
cover the long-term cost of the spill. It's also claiming a $9.88 billion tax
credit in the second quarter based on the $32.2 billion charge.
BP executives were asked in a conference call Tuesday
whether they had discussed the tax credit with US authorities.
"We have followed the IRS regulations as they are
currently written," Hayward said.
Hayward, who has been repeatedly criticized for other
verbal miscues, will leave BP Oct. 1 with benefits valued at more than $18
million. BP is recommending him for a non-executive board position at its
Russian joint venture, TNK-BP.
Hayward told reporters he had been "demonized and
vilified" but had no major regrets about his leadership.
"Life isn't fair," he said, but he conceded
that wasn't the point. "BP cannot move on in the US with me as its
leader."
The White House was not impressed with Hayward's
comments.
"What's not fair is what's happened on the
Gulf," press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday. "What's not fair is
the actions of some have caused the greatest environmental disaster that our
country has ever seen."
Dudley defended Hayward's leadership but promised changes
in light of the environmental disaster. "There's no question we are going
to learn things from this investigation of the incident," he said.
The catastrophic mile-deep blowout April 20 killed 11
workers, spewed 94 million to 184 million gallons (356 million to 697 million
liters) of oil and sapped 35 percent, or $60 billion, of BP's market value. The
company struggled for months to stop the leak before temporarily capping it
about two weeks ago. A permanent fix could be just a few weeks away.
BP said it would become a leaner, higher-quality business
through its planned sale of $30 billion in assets. The company has already made
a start with the $7 billion sale of gas assets in the United States, Canada and
Egypt to Apache Corp.
Analysts were disappointed that BP intended to sell so
many assets. Oppenheimer and amp; Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said BP should be a
10 percent smaller company after its planned sales but that BP should remain
the top oil and gas producer in the US, unless it sells off a large portion of
its Alaska assets.
Analysts also said BP's estimate of spill costs was on
the conservative side. Gheit predicts BP will eventually pay between $30
billion and $60 billion.
Dudley pledged that his company will remain committed to
the Gulf region even after the well is sealed for good - something that may
happen soon. A temporary cap has held back the oil for nearly two weeks, a
"static kill" effort to plug the well from above is to begin Monday
and a relief well could begin sealing the well from the bottom for good with
mud and cement days after that.
Meanwhile, crews were trying to cap a smaller and
unrelated gusher Wednesday in a lake just north of Barataria Bay, which has
already been fouled by oil from the massive BP spill.
On Tuesday a barge slammed into an abandoned well in a
coastal inlet, sending a shower of water, natural gas and oil spewing about 100
feet (30 meters) into the air. No one was hurt.
Officials said the breach created a mile-long slick but
that it was small compared with the gusher in the Gulf.
Emergency officials said about 6,000 feet (1,800 meters)
of containment boom was in place around the site.
