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BP announces record loss as Hayward moves on
Business Digest: The company has lost £11bn after setting aside £20.8bn for oil spill
BP today reported the worst loss in its history - £11bn for the second quarter of the year – and announced Tony Hayward is to be replaced by its first American chief executive.
The loss is accounted for by the £20.8bn the company has set aside to pay for clean up costs and future compensation claims. If it wasn't for that £20.8bn, BP's profits would have doubled to £3.22bn over the last quarter, thanks to an increase in the price of oil.
Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said: "The tragedy of the Macondo well explosion and subsequent environmental damage has been a watershed incident. It will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership, supported by robust governance and a very engaged board."
Bob Dudley has been leading BP's response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill since late June, but will now face the challenge of not only handling the fallout from the leak but also convincing the US government that BP should be allowed to continue deep water drilling in the Gulf.
Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph. ·
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The yanks now have their fall guy. Never mind finding out who is to blame, no, that is not the good old stars and stripes way. They like to kill, kill, kill first and then find out if that person is guilty, just as long as they are are not a yank. What did Heyward do? Did he take his finger out of the well personally? If BP are found out to be innocent in the end, it will mean lawsuits like you have never seen. Billions of Dollars in lawsuits against Obarmy, the US congressmen, the media in general. On top of that it will mean the USA will have to pay back all that the US has claimed from BP. What will be the cost to the USA? 150 to 200 billion Dollars and that will only be a conservative estimate. All of this because the "good old US of A" could not be bothered to find out first if BP really are guilty. I hope that each and every yank will be very happy paying their share. But silly me, of course that will never happen. The US government would never let it happen. The US government would rather bomb BP h/q and kill all the employees than be seen to be wrong. Watch out all those who work for BP, it may not just be your jobs that are on the line!