Yachting enthusiast Tony Hayward who allegedly headed BP in his spare time has been nudged out of his job with a golden handshake amounting to lots and lots of money and a mighty pension. He should’ve received a golden shower if you ask me, or better still been tarred and feathered like so many birds in the Gulf of Mexico.

Hayward will be replaced by American Bob Dudley, the BBC reports.

Meanwhile, vessels returned to the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of a tropical storm to continue “relief” efforts that BP says will cost it more than $32 billion. Not surprisingly, BP’s share price has halved in the time since the Deepwater Horizon disaster back in April that triggered the devastating oil leak. Of course, the stockbrokers have made a killing as each news item nudged the price up and down and they bought at the lows and sold at the highs (at the moment the price is rising again fairly steadily).

The Financial Times reports that BP is planning to sell assets worth $30bn to cover the costs of the oil spill.

Other BP oil spill news

• BP Earnings Preview: Profits Will Surge Despite Oil Spill
• BP oil spill: Tony Hayward replaced by Bob Dudley as oil giant slumps to record loss
• BP makes record loss as Tony Hayward quits