BP denies CEO Hayward is leaving

BP Plc on Wednesday denied a report its heavily criticised chief executive would soon leave, after the company lined up $7 bln in asset sales to help pay for the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
CEO Tony Hayward had the full support of the board and would stay in office, a BP spokesman told Reuters, dismissing a report in the Times that he would step down within the next ten weeks.
Hayward has been roundly criticised for a series of PR gaffes and a failure to quickly stem the three-month leak in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting speculation he would be removed.
Hayward would have to step down so that BP could build its defences against a potential buyout threat by ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell, the Times cited a person close to the matter as saying.
There was a growing expectation that he would announce his departure in late August or September, with Robert Dudley, chief of BP's Gulf Coast restoration efforts, viewed as the front-runner to replace him, The Times said.
BP is also selling assets around the world to help shore up its finances after pledging to set aside $20 bln to meet the costs of the spill.
The company said on Tuesday it reached a $7 bln deal with U.S. firm Apache Corp, a large part of its planned sale of $10 bln in assets.
BP said Apache would pay a $5 bln cash deposit on July 30 as part of the deal for exploration and production facilities in North America and Egypt. The company said the deal would include assets in New Mexico, natural gas in western Canada and concessions in Egypt.
Earlier, it announced it would sell $1.7 bln worth of assets in Vietnam and Pakistan.
BP's share price ended 1.5% lower in New York at $35.20, but was up 1.3% in after hours trading.
The stock has fallen 40% in the three months since an explosion on an offshore rig killed 11 workers and caused the crude to flow into the Gulf of Mexico.
The continuing disaster remains high on the American and British political agendas and dominated a visit to Washington by Prime Minister David Cameron.
Cameron praised BP for steps it has taken to plug the leak and pay for damages suffered by Gulf residents. U.S. officials on Tuesday gave BP's latest effort, a cap that has stopped the flow, another 24 hours for pressure tests on the seal.
The Gulf's tourism and fishing industries have been devastated by the millions of gallons of oil that have hit coastal beaches and marshes. The spill also has hurt President Barack Obama's approval ratings.
BP, which said on Monday it had spent about $3.95 bln so far on the oil spill, agreed under intense U.S. pressure from last month to set up an independently administered $20 bln escrow fund for damage claims. The Obama administration has stressed that is not a cap on the company's liabilities.
Al Troner, president of Asia Pacific Energy Consulting in Houston, said Hayward was not entirely responsible for the disaster, although "he seems to have an unfortunate tendency to put both his feet in his mouth."
"There is more than enough blame to spread around here, whether it's BP, the drilling company, or the federal government reaction" he said.