【英语国际】达德利接任英国石油CEO 诸多问题待解决

As BP PLC's board approved Robert Dudley as the troubled oil giant's new chief executive, his to-do list includes overhauling a U.S. operation badly tainted by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill; mending fences with perturbed U.S. government officials; and possibly making further executive changes at the top of his own company.

BP's board met Monday and approved a plan for Mr. Dudley to replace current Chief Executive Tony Hayward, according to a person familiar with the matter. The embattled BP chief has been lambasted for his handling of the crisis that unfolded following an April 20 explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 people and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Mr. Hayward will not completely sever his ties with the company. He will be nominated for as a non-executive director of TNK-BP Ltd, BP's Russian joint venture, which he was instrumental in creating, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Investors, meanwhile, hoped Mr. Dudley's appointment would reduce the political heat on BP and help it on the path to restoring its battered reputation.

'An American CEO will clearly be better able to improve BP's political relationship with the U.S. government,' said Tim Riley, a fund manager at Guinness Atkinson Asset Management.

BP is expected to report second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Excluding spill-related costs, an average of analysts' estimates forecasts a $4.9 billion profit for the second quarter-up 60% from year-earlier levels. But analysts have issued a wide range of projections for spill-related costs, so the company's actual profit for the quarter remains hard to pin down.

Mr. Dudley had previously garnered attention as chief executive of TNK-BP, which he ran for five years from its creation in 2003 and which quickly became one of BP's most lucrative businesses.

Now, in addition to mending political fences and his company's bruised image, many are calling for a root-and-branch overhaul of BP's U.S. business, another duty that would likely fall to Mr. Dudley.

The U.S. business accounts for 40% of the company's asset base but has also suffered three calamities in the space of five years-a fatal blast at a Texas refinery in 2005, an oil spill in Alaska in 2006, and now the Deepwater Horizon incident.

There is also an expectation that some executives in the company's exploration and production, or E&P, division, could see a change in status, according to a person familiar with the matter. They could include Andy Inglis, the current head of E&P, who was once widely viewed as a likely successor to Mr. Hayward; and Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of E&P and one of the public faces of BP's cleanup effort.

Both men are closely associated with BP's deepwater Gulf of Mexico strategy, and have been hurt by allegations that, in its drilling operations, the company may have cut corners on safety.

In addition, the two have frequently fought with the Obama administration. Mr. Inglis, who heads the campaign to contain the spill and cap the leaking well, has had heated arguments with Energy Secretary Steven Chu in BP's Houston crisis center.

The White House stopped holding joint press conferences with BP after disagreeing with some of Mr. Suttles's comments, according to a White House official.

BP declined to comment on Messrs. Inglis or Suttles or to make them available for an interview.

处于困境之中的英国石油（BP PLC）董事会批准达德利（Robert Dudley）成为这家石油巨头的新首席执行长，他要做的事情包括整治受墨西哥湾漏油事件严重影响的美国业务、改善与美国政府官员的关系，并有可能对公司高层进行进一步调整。

Getty Images周一，英国石油公司新的首席执行长达德利抵达伦敦公司总部。熟悉情况的人士说，英国石油董事会周一举行会议，批准了达德利接替现任首席执行长唐熙华（Tony Hayward）的计划。4月20日深水地平线号（Deepwater Horizon）钻井平台发生爆炸并燃起熊熊大火，导致11人死亡，并引发美国历史上最严重的近海漏油事故，唐熙华因处理危机不利而受到谴责。

但熟悉情况的人士表示，唐熙华不会完全断绝与公司的关系。他将被任命为英国石油俄罗斯合资企业TNK-BP Ltd的非执行董事，他曾帮助创建了该公司。

与此同时投资者希望对达德利的任命将减少英国石油承受的政治压力，并帮其恢复现已遭到损伤的名誉。

Guinness Atkinson资产管理公司基金经理赖利（Tim Riley）说，一位美国首席执行长肯定能更好地改善英国石油与美国政府的政治关系。

英国石油料将于周二公布第二季度财报，扣除漏油相关费用，分析师平均预估第二季度获利为49亿美元，较上年同期增长60%。但分析师对漏油相关费用的预估参差不齐，所以公司第二季度的实际获利很难确定。

达德利此前作为TNK-BP的首席执行长受到关注，该公司2003年成立后有五年时间由达德利负责运营，很快成为英国石油最赚钱的业务之一。

目前在修复政治关系及公司受损的形象之外，许多人呼吁从根本上修整英国石油的美国业务，这一任务可能将落在达德利身上。

美国业务占英国石油资产基础的40%，但在五年时间内历经三次灾难，2005年得克萨斯炼油厂发生爆炸，2006年阿拉斯加发生漏油，目前则是深水地平线号钻井平台事故。

熟悉情况的一位人士说，人们预计公司勘探与生产部门一些高管的地位可能将发生变化，他们可能包括现任勘探与生产部门主管英格利斯（Andy Inglis），他曾被视为唐熙华的可能继任者；以及勘探与生部门的首席运营长萨特尔斯（Doug Suttles），他是向公众报告英国石油清污工作的人员之一。

这两人与英国石油墨西哥湾深水策略密切相关，另外在钻探业务中，公司可能在安全方面偷工减料，这两人受到这些指责。

另外，这两人经常与奥巴马政府发生争执，负责抑制漏油并堵住漏油井的英格利斯与美国能源部长朱棣文（Steven Chu）在英国石油的休斯敦危机中心曾发生过激烈的争论。

据一位白宫官员说，由于不赞同萨特尔斯的一些言论，白宫已停止与英国石油召开联合新闻发布会。

英国石油拒绝就英格利斯和萨特尔斯发表评论，也不让他们接受采访。