BP boss may be dumped in rebuild, say experts

BP chief executive Tony Hayward, who drew fire for saying he wanted his life back at the peak of the United States oil spill crisis, may get his wish.

With its Gulf of Mexico well under control for the first time in three months, Europe's largest oil producer may look to change leadership as it starts rebuilding its reputation, management experts, industry analysts and investors said.

Hayward, 53, has been the focus of criticism for BP's handling of a disaster that wiped out £47 billion ($102 billion) of market value and led the US Congress to introduce legislation that would bar the company from new drilling leases.

"It's much easier to rebuild trust with the public with some new faces rather than the same ones that are being mocked," said David Henderson, a lecturer in corporate leadership at the London School of Economics.

"So much of investor confidence is based on perceptions of credibility."

Any successor would lead a shrinking BP as the company sells oil and gas fields to raise cash for the US$20 billion fund Hayward and chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg promised President Barack Obama to compensate shrimpers, restaurateurs and other Gulf Coast residents.

BP is near to completing the sale of assets including a stake in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay field to Apache for as much as US$11 billion ($15.5 billion), people familiar with the situation said last week.

Holdings in Argentina, Colombia, Vietnam and Venezuela Colombia and Vietnam may also be sold.

BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams said Hayward remains chief executive and has no plans to step down.

BP has already spent more than US$3.5 billion trying to stop the leak and clean up the crude.

Liabilities could reach US$60 billion, according to Oppenheimer & Co.

- BLOOMBERG