Gulf Spill Hits BP's Bottom Line
Date: 7/28/2010
BP announced steps this week to help address the financial impact and other fallout from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

First, the company made news this week with the announcement that CEO Tony Hayward would be replaced by executive director Robert Dudley. Hayward's handling of the oil spill was widely seen as a public relations disaster for the company.

In a statement, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said the company's board "is deeply saddened to lose a CEO whose success over some three years in driving the performance of the company was so widely and deservedly admired."

Also this week, BP reported that it will sell up to $30 billion in assets over the next 18 months, largely from its upstream business, while also working to reduce its overall debt and pursuing new business opportunities in a number of countries.

BP also announced a $32.2 billion charge for the quarter to reflect the costs of the oil spill. This figure consisted of $2.9 billion for the costs of the response to date, as well as $29.3 billion for anticipated costs - which also includes the $20 billion escrow fund the company previously announced.