【英语国际】英国石油CEO唐熙华即将离任

The board of BP PLC is negotiating the departure of its embattled chief executive, Tony Hayward, according to people familiar with the matter, a bid by the U.K. oil titan to move beyond the Gulf of Mexico disaster that has undercut his three-year effort to remake the company.

The BP board is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss and approve Mr. Hayward's departure, these people said, one describing the decision as 'mutual.'

If that happens as expected, the board is set to name Managing Director Robert Dudley as the new chief executive on Tuesday, when it releases second quarter results.

The move would install the first American at the top of BP, a veteran insider who heads the company's U.S. operations and hails from the region devastated by the oil spill. BP has chosen Mr. Dudley, who wasn't viewed as the top CEO candidate until recently, ahead of refining chief Iain Conn, who many industry observers had tipped as Mr. Hayward's most likely replacement. Analysts say the fact that Mr. Dudley is American helped his chances to lead the largest oil and gas company in the U.S.

The plan before the board would elevate Mr. Dudley to CEO on Oct. 1, according to a person familiar with the plan, allowing for an orderly transition at a company that was thrust into crisis by the April 20 explosion and fire that sank the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf, killing 11 people and setting off the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Mr. Hayward would stay on the board for the rest of the year. BP's chairman, former Telefon AB LM Ericsson chief Carl-Henric Svanberg, would remain in place. As expected, Mr. Hayward will discuss BP's second-quarter results on Tuesday, when the company is expected to describe the massive liability from the disaster.

Mr. Hayward's exit has been widely anticipated, given the heavy criticism of BP's response to the crisis. Most observers, however, expected that he wouldn't depart until the completion of a relief well that is expected to permanently shut down the flow of oil from the well because the company didn't want to saddle a new chief with the stigma of the event.

With a new cap appearing to hold the oil for now while the relief well is drilled, however, the talks between Mr. Hayward and BP intensified in the past week to 10 days, these people indicated.

One person familiar with the matter said that for some time there had been 'a discussion building within the board' to make a management change, but that notion 'crystallized in the last week.'

A BP spokesman said: 'Tony Hayward is the chief executive and has the confidence of the board and senior management.'

Although the Obama administration made it clear that it was unhappy with Mr. Hayward's handling of the crisis, the decision to replace the CEO is a 'decision for BP's board,' said a White House official.

Another person familiar with the process said the change wasn't meant to be seen as an indictment of Mr. Hayward, nor was it linked to any investigations of the Deepwater Horizon debacle.

Rather, the move was recognition of the fact that Mr. Hayward was no longer seen as able to address one of the company's most crucial tasks: repairing BP's reputation and restoring its credibility in the critical U.S. market, where it is the biggest oil and gas producer.

BP's annual report says the company's standard employment contracts may be terminated at any time with the payment of one year's salary, although the company's remuneration committee may consider mitigating factors, 'to reduce compensation to a departing director, when appropriate to do so.'

Mr. Hayward earned GBP 1.045 million ($1.6 million) in 2009, a tally that rose to GBP 4 million with bonuses. Given the damage Mr. Hayward's career has sustained -- and the difficulty he may face securing another top executive post-- he may be negotiating for a far higher payout than the contract calls for.

Mr. Hayward is in this predicament in large part because of the torrent of criticism he has faced over the past three months, over both the company's handling of the Gulf crisis and its poor safety record.

He took over BP in 2007, after his predecessor, John Browne, resigned over a scandal involving allegations about his private life. Mr. Hayward vowed to make BP a more formidable competitor in the global oil world by streamlining a company that had grown unwieldy thanks to a series of acquisitions, notably its 1998 takeover of Amoco Corp.

He also pledged to clean up the company's poor safety record, which was badly tarnished by incidents including a 2005 blast at a Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed 15 people and injured more than 170.

Since the third quarter of 2009, BP has impressed analysts with a succession of strong quarterly results, most recently a net profit of $6.08 billion for the first quarter of 2010. But everything changed at 7:24 a.m. on April 21, when Mr. Hayward received a call in London detailing the explosion from the night before.

In the disaster that later unfolded, Mr. Hayward became a lightning rod for criticism after his poor performance before a congressional panel and an infamous gaffe in which he complained 'I want my life back' against a backdrop of economic suffering and hardship in the Gulf region.

The chief executive abruptly returned to London and handed over the reins of dealing with the Gulf to Mr. Dudley.

The spill also opened the door for an unflattering re-evaluation of the safety improvements Mr. Hayward often bragged about over the last year. The picture that emerged was of a company whose cost-cutting agenda drowned out its safety message, and BP was found to be in continuing conflict with both U.S. health and safety regulators and state officials in places like Alaska.

Mr. Dudley, 54 years old, arrived in London last week to help the company prepare for second-quarter results, specifically on quantifying the estimate of massive liability BP will disclose with Tuesday's second-quarter results. By the weekend, however, he became the choice to become the next CEO, although Mr. Dudley wasn't seeking that job, one person familiar with the situation said.

Mr. Dudley's stock rose in recent weeks as he navigated the tricky and occasionally contentious relationships between BP and the federal government and affected states on numerous fronts from pushing through damage claims to working with Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point person on the spill, on sub-sea maneuvers to cap the well and shoreline defenses to clean up the oil.

Another point in Mr. Dudley's favor -- he was once a top executive at Amoco, the name some advisers have recommended that BP revert to for its U.S. operations.

熟悉情况的人士说，英国石油（BP PLC）董事会正在讨论深陷困境的公司首席执行长唐熙华（Tony Hayward）的离职问题，此举是这位英国石油业巨子试图翻过墨西哥湾灾难这历史一页的重要一搏，灾难已经使他三年来试图重新打造公司的努力遭到削弱。

这些消息人士说，英国石油董事会计划于周一举行会议，讨论并批准唐熙华的离职，一位消息人士说这一决定是“双方”共同作出的。

如果真如预期，在周二公司公布第二季度财报时，董事会料将任命董事总经理罗伯特•达德利（Robert Dudley）为新任首席执行长。

他将是出任英国石油掌门人的第一个美国人，达德利是领导英国石油美国业务的经验丰富的业内人士，来自受石油泄漏污染的地区。达德利直到近期才被看作首席执行长的候选人，许多业界观察家此前爆出内幕消息说，英国石油炼油业务负责人康逸宁（Iain Conn）最有可能接替唐熙华，但英国石油选择了达德利，而不是康逸宁。分析师说，达德利的美国人身份增加了他成为英国石油掌门人的可能性，英国石油是美国最大的石油企业。

熟悉计划的人士表示，董事会计划在10月1日提升达德利为首席执行长，以使公司有序过渡。在4月20日的爆炸中，大火使墨西哥湾的深水地平线号（Deepwater Horizon）钻井平台沉没，11人死亡，并导致了美国历史上最严重的海岸原油污染事件，从而使公司陷入危机。

在今年年底前唐熙华将一直是董事会成员，英国石油董事长思文凯（Carl-Henric Svanberg）仍将留任，他曾担任爱立信公司（Telefon AB LM Ericsson）的董事长。唐熙华一如预期将在周二讨论英国石油第二季度财报，届时公司料将说明此次灾难带来的庞大债务。

鉴于英国石油对危机作出的反应受到严重批评，人们已普遍预期唐熙华将离任。但多数观察家预测，在被认为能永久堵漏的减压井完工前，唐熙华不会离任，因为公司不希望让一位新首席执行长背负着该事件的耻辱。

这些消息人士指出，在减压井施工的同时，一个新的盖帽似乎堵住了漏油，唐熙华与英国石油之间在过去一周至10天内开始了更为密集的磋商。

一位熟悉情况的人士说，“在董事会内部”进行管理层调整的磋商已进行一段时间了，但“上周意图明朗了”。

英国石油一位发言人说，唐熙华是首席执行长，他对董事会和高层管理团队有信心。

尽管奥巴马政府明确表示，不满意唐熙华对危机的处理，但白宫一位官员表示，是否更换首席执行长是要由英国石油董事会来做的决定。

另一位知情人士说，这起人事变动的本意不是作为对唐熙华的指责，也无关任何对“深水地平线”事故展开的调查。

相反，此举是确认一个事实，即董事会不再相信唐熙华能够在美国这个关键市场（英国石油是美国最大的石油生产商）修复英国石油的声誉。这是英国石油最重要的任务之一。

英国石油的年报说，公司的标准雇用合同在任何时候都有可能终止，同时会支付一年的薪水，但公司薪酬委员会在有需要时，可能会针对一些特殊情况，减少支付给离职董事的补偿。

唐熙华在2009年的薪酬为104.5万英镑（合160万美元），加上奖金则为400万英镑。考虑到唐熙华职业生涯遭受的打击，以及他在谋求其他高管职位时可能面临的困难，他或许正在通过谈判争取到一份远高于雇用合同规定的离职补偿。

人们预计唐熙华离职，在很大程度上是因为他在过去三个月所承受的大量批评。人们不仅因为墨西哥湾危机的处理，还因为英国石油的安全劣迹而批评他。

2007年，在前任CEO布朗(John Browne)因一起涉及私生活问题的丑闻而辞职之后，唐熙华执掌英国石油。他誓言要通过精简机构，让英国石油成为全球石油市场上一家更具威胁的竞争对手。此前通过一系列并购，特别是1998年收购Amoco Corp.，英国石油已经变得笨重不堪。

他还承诺要刷新公司劣迹斑斑的安全纪录。2005年，英国石油在得克萨斯州得克萨斯城的一座炼油厂发生爆炸，造成15人死亡，170多人受伤。加上其他一些事故，英国石油的安全形象受到了严重损害。

自2009年第三季度以来，英国石油连续取得强劲的季度业绩，给分析师留下深刻印象。最近的是在2010年第一季度取得净利润60.8亿美元。但在4月21日上午7点24分，唐熙华在伦敦接到详细解释头晚爆炸事故的电话，从此一切都发生了改变。

在后来不断演变的这场灾难中，唐熙华成了吸纳批评的“避雷针”。在美国国会的一个专门委员会作证时，他表现很差；而在墨西哥湾地区遭遇灾难之际，他又失态地说“我想恢复我的生活”。

唐熙华突然回到了伦敦，并把处理墨西哥湾危机的权力交给了达德利。

在过去一年，唐熙华常常吹嘘公司在安全方面的改进，而漏油事故的发生，又让人们有机会对这一切进行重新估计。由此形成的印象是，这家公司的成本削减行动盖过了它在安全方面发出的信息，而人们发现，英国石油与美国健康与安全监管机构和阿拉斯加等州级官员之间仍冲突不断。

54岁的达德利上周前往伦敦，帮助公司准备第二季季报，特别是对英国石油巨大赔付责任的量化估计。这些都将在周二公布的第二季度财报中呈现出来。但知情人士说，到周末，他已成了担当下任CEO的人选，尽管他自己并没有谋求这个岗位。

达德利近几个星期地位的上升，缘于他在多个方面对英国石油与联邦政府、受影响各州关系的引导；这是一种难以把握、常常引起争议的关系。他所做的包括解决损失赔偿问题，还包括与政府解决漏油事件的负责人艾伦(Thad Allen)合作，通过深海作业盖住油井，并保卫海岸线、清理石油。

另一个有利于达德利的地方在于，他曾是Amoco高管，而一些咨询机构曾建议英国石油让Amoco来负责它在美国的运营。