Offshore staff

LONDON, UK -- Following Lord Browne's decision to step down as the company's CEO, the board of BP Plc has appointed his successor, Tony Hayward, as CEO.

Lord Browne tendered his resignation after UK courts lifted a legal injunction preventing a newspaper group from publishing details of his private life.

Lord Browne had planned to step down from the company in July. As a result of the decision, Lord Browne will lose at least £3.5 million of his retirement package - and possibly a further £12 million, BP said in a statement.

BP said it had accepted Lord Browne's resignation with "deepest regret."

According to reports by BBC News, Lord Browne also apologized that statements he had made in legal documents about a four-year relationship had been "untruthful".

5/2/2007