After news reports today that BP CEO Tony Hayward was no longer handling day-to-day operations in the Gulf oil response, a spokesman for the company told CNN that Hayward is still in his current position in the Gulf.
The reports, including TPM‘s, were based on an interview BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg gave to Sky News today, in which he said Hayward is handing over Gulf operations to BP’s managing director Bob Dudley.
But BP now says that Svanberg was only recapping an announcement earlier this month that Hayward would eventually hand the reins to Dudley, an American-born executive who is now handling BP’s community relations.
In the interview, Svanberg said, “He is now handing over the operations, the daily operations to Bob Dudley.” He suggested it was because of Hayward’s handling of the response, acknowledging that he’s said things that have “upset” people.
On June 4, the company announced that Dudley would eventually take over the spill response and Hayward would go back to London to oversee the company at large.
BP has not responded to TPM’s requests for comment.
