BP's chief executive, 53-year-old Tony Hayward, resigned yesterday, claiming to have been "demonised and vilified" over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster that is set to cost the British group $32 billion.
Mr Hayward, whose PR gaffes made him a target of US fury, will be succeeded by Bob Dudley, who is in charge of BP's Gulf clean-up operations and who has vowed to "change the culture" of how the company tackles safety issues.
BP yesterday said it had made a record $16.9-billion loss in the second quarter, and will sell $30 billion of assets over the next 18 months as it seeks to return to profitability.
"This is a very sad day for me personally," Mr Hayward told a conference call.
"Whether it is fair or unfair is not the point. I became the public face and was demonised and vilified. BP cannot move on in the US with me as its leader."
Mr Hayward added: "Sometimes you step off the pavement and get hit by a bus."
The troubled firm was pushed into the red by the $32.2 billion (€24.7 billion) set aside to pay for the costs of the spill - which was the worst environmental disaster in US history.
BP and Mr Hayward have been mauled by Washington since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and unleashing millions of gallons of crude into the sea and onto the US Gulf coast.
"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," Mr Hayward said.
He will step down on October 1, and will remain a BP board member until November 30, but has meanwhile been nominated as a non-executive director of Russian joint venture TNK-BP.
Mr Dudley will become BP's first American chief executive following the resignation.
"I think sometimes events like this shake you to the core, the foundation, and you have two responses," Mr Dudley said in an TV interview with ABC News, in reference to the oil disaster.
"One is to run away and hide, the other is to respond and really change the culture of the company and make sure all the checks and balances are there, just to make sure this does not happen again."
Mr Dudley added that his top priority was to permanently seal the Gulf well, contain the crude spill and to clean up and restore the area's beaches. The group had finally capped the leak on July 15.
The spill has been a public relations disaster for BP, with Mr Hayward making a long line of gaffes. Yesterday, he stood by the company's handling of the crisis.
"I believe the decision I have reached with the board to step down is consistent with the responsibility BP has shown throughout these terrible events," Mr Hayward said.
Under his contract, Mr Hayward will receive one year's salary, worth £1.045 million (€1.245 million). He also has a pension pot totalling £11 million. BP added that Mr Dudley will move to London and hand over his present duties to Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America.
It has taken more than three months to stem the Gulf of Mexico oil flow. Up to four million barrels of crude has escaped.
The catastrophe has destroyed vital tourism, fishing and oil industries in the five US Gulf coast states and left BP facing soaring clean-up and compensation costs.