BP Update: Record Loss, Hayward Dumped and More

(July 27) -- Change is in the air at BP today, which, not coincidentally, is also announcing that it has posted a record loss for the second quarter. BP shares are up 5 percent this week. Below, Surge Desk looks at where BP stands now.

1. Hayward Out, Dudley In
BP has made it official: As of Oct. 1, Tony Hayward will be replaced by Bob Dudley, the first American to lead the British company.

"The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which -- as the man in charge of BP when it happened -- I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie," Hayward said in a statement.

But don't feel too bad for the guy. Hayward still has a job -- he'll be on the board of TNK-BP, the company's joint venture in Russia -- for which he may receive approximately $54,000 a year, according to The Guardian. He'll also be paid $1.6 million "in lieu of notice," according to a BP statement, and is due to receive a pension valued at just shy of $17 million at the end of 2009.

Dudley himself was the head of TNK-BP until two years ago when the Kremlin forced him out over a fight about the control of the company, according to The Guardian.

2. BP Posts $17.2 Billion Loss in Q2
The company recorded a loss of $17.2 billion for the second quarter of the year. Over the same period in 2009, the company posted a $4.4 billion profit, according to The New York Times. BP has set aside $32.2 billion to pay for the spill, including the $20 billion escrow account it set up at the White House's behest. It will sell off $30 billion in assets to cover the costs.

3. Relief Well Work Resumes
As of Monday afternoon, BP's drill rigs had returned to the site of the oil well and were preparing to resume drilling of the relief wells that can provide the ultimate fix for the leaking well. The rigs had to leave the area last week to avoid Tropical Storm Bonnie. The company is also set to begin its static kill operation next week.

4. Scope of the Spill
As of Monday, 638 miles of gulf shoreline were oiled and 57,539 square miles of Gulf of Mexico fishing grounds were still closed to fishing, leaving about 76 percent of waters open, according to the government.