Embattled BP boss Tony Hayward has handed off the daily management of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, as the British energy firm was assailed by its partner for “reckless” conduct. BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said chief executive Hayward, a Briton, was handing over the running of the containment efforts to another top BP official, Bob Dudley, an American.
“Right after the explosion (Hayward) went out there and he has been leading the response ever since,” Svanberg told Sky News. “I think everyone believed it to be something we could deal with faster, then he would come back. “And now he’s been around for eight weeks, he’s now handing over the daily operations to Bob Dudley,” he told the British broadcaster.
The handover had been announced earlier this month, but no timing had been given. The announcement came a day after Hayward was pilloried by US legislators investigating the April explosion that destroyed a BP-leased rig off the southern US state of Louisiana.
BP also reported progress on drilling the first of two relief wells to permanently plug the massive leak spewing tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Kent Wells, a BP senior vice-president, said the first relief well was now 61 metres from the ruptured well as it heads towards the bottom of the sea floor. But officials cautioned that despite the relief well’s proximity to the existing well and the fact that BP is some 11 days ahead of schedule, the firm still needs until early August to finish the work before heavy drilling fluids can be pumped into the existing well.
Meanwhile, a co-owner with BP in the well, Anadarko Petroleum, said BP should pay the costs of cleanup because of its “reckless” conduct, prompting a testy exchange between the two companies.
In a statement, Anadarko chairman and chief executive Jim Hackett said: “The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP’s reckless decisions and actions.”
“BP’s behaviour and actions likely represent gross negligence or wilful misconduct and thus affect the obligations of the parties under the operating agreement,” the Anadarko chief said.
BP said in a separate statement that it “strongly disagrees with these allegations” from Anadarko and “will not allow the allegations to diminish its commitment to the Gulf Coast region.”
BP said that Anadarko “is refusing to accept responsibility for oil spill removal costs and damages” despite a written operating agreement stating that “the parties would share the costs of operations, including the cost to clean up any spill” from the well. —AFP