To resign, or not to resign? Russia's top energy official Igor Sechin, right, claimed today that under-fire BP CEO Tony Hayward, left, was about to step down - a claim that BP has since denied
BP has been forced to deny that embattled chief executive Tony Hayward is on the point of resigning, after comments made by a Russian politician.
Mr Hayward is widely expected to face the axe over the company's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and his own gaffes, such as going sailing while the oil continues to spill.
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Igor Sechin, Russia's deputy prime minister and top energy official, increased pressure on the BP boss just hours before meeting him in Moscow.
We know that Tony Hayward is leaving his position and he will introduce his successor,' said Sechin.
Sources within BP were angered by the comments, saying Sechin was 'not clairvoyant'.
Kremlin later played down Sechin's comments, releasing a statement saying that the issue of Mr Hayward's successor had not come up at the meeting.
A spokesman for BP said: 'Tony Hayward-remains chief executive and there has been no decision about any change.'
Oil-rich Russia is a key region for BP, where its TNK-BP joint venture is responsible for about a quarter of the company's overall production.
Meanwhile, the company believes measures to plug the leak could be ready within weeks.
BP said one of two relief wells being drilled to staunch the flow of oil is nearing completion, with 900ft still to drill until it links up with the original pipe emerging from the Macondo oil field.
Spokesman Kent Wells said the first of the two wells is on target to be finished by early August, if not before.
'We're getting very close,' he said, adding that the success of the relief wells was 'not so much a matter of "If" but "When"'.
The company also revealed that the cost of cleaning up the spill has reached £1.8billion.
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