Image via WikipediaNEW ORLEANS – The man overseeing the much-maligned response by BP PLC to the Gulf oil spill crisis is the likely choice to replace gaffe-prone Tony Hayward to run the company and would become the first American to ever head the oil giant.
A senior U.S. government official said Sunday that Hayward is on his way out but didn't know who would be his successor. The official was briefed on the decision last week and spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made. An official announcement could come as early as Monday.
One of the most likely replacements would be Bob Dudley, BP's managing director, who spent part of his boyhood in Mississippi and has been running the day-to-day oil response since June. He would be the first American to head BP PLC since it was founded as the Anglo-Persian Oil Co. in 1909, according to a spokesman.
There also has been speculation that BP could tap Iain Conn, a Scot who runs BP's refining and marketing arm and also serves on BP's board of directors. BP's board would have to approve a change in company leadership.
To analysts and Gulf residents, it would be a welcome change for a company that has been criticized as being out of touch with the concerns of U.S. fishermen, tourists and residents affected by the catastrophe.
"He's a very good delegator," Oppenheimer & Co. senior analyst Fadel Gheit said of the 54-year-old Dudley.
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