After mounting U.S. criticism of Hayward, BP pulls him off oil spill cleanup

We have what appears to be the first sign that BP may be marginalizing CEO Tony Hayward, whose gaffes have made him a lightning rod for criticism since the April 20 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP Chairman Carl-Henrick Svanberg has said in an interview that Hayward is being pulled from day-to-day responsibility ...

We have what appears to be the first sign that BP may be marginalizing CEO Tony Hayward, whose gaffes have made him a lightning rod for criticism since the April 20 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

We have what appears to be the first sign that BP may be marginalizing CEO Tony Hayward, whose gaffes have made him a lightning rod for criticism since the April 20 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Chairman Carl-Henrick Svanberg has said in an interview that Hayward is being pulled from day-to-day responsibility for dealing with the Gulf of Mexico spill. Earlier this month, BP had said that Hayward would ultimately put a deputy, Robert Dudley, in charge of the spill. But the timing of this announcement is interesting: It comes a day after Hayward underwent an intense grilling in Washington, in which he was accused of dodging questions and seeking to avoid blame.

In an interview with Sky News, Svanberg noted the obvious:

"It is clear Tony has made remarks that have upset people," Svanberg told the broadcaster. He also said, "This has now turned into a reputation matter, financial and political and that is why you will now see more of me."

I emailed BP spokesman Andrew Gowers, who told me that Svanberg’s announcement does not mean that Hayward’s job is at stake. (In his own interview, Svanberg similarly said that questions about the CEO’s job were not on the BP board’s agenda.)  "It is not new news," Gowers said. "On June 4 we announced that Bob Dudley would over time take over responsibility for the Gulf effort and obligations. The chairman was restating that."

<p> Steve LeVine is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy, a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation, and author of The Oil and the Glory. </p>

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