Tony Hayward says leaving top post out of 'love' for BP

WASHINGTON: Outgoing BP CEO Tony Hayward would have liked to remain in his job, but is leaving after a firestorm over his handling of the US oil spill because of his "love" for the British firm.

In his first interview since resigning his post Tuesday, Hayward, 53, told the Wall Street Journal that he was unfairly vilified for his handling of the environmental catastrophe, the worst in US history.

"I became a villain for doing the right thing," Hayward told the Wall Street Journal.

"But I understand that people find it easier to vilify an individual more than a company."

Speaking about his planned October 1 departure from the helm of the company, Hayward said he was leaving reluctantly.

"I didn't want to leave BP, because I love the company," Hayward said, adding that "because I love the company, I must leave BP."

"BP can rebuild faster in America without Tony Hayward as its CEO," he said.

His remarks came as the troubled oil giant worked to permanently cap the Gulf of Mexico oil well, which was temporarily plugged this month after weeks during which it spewed millions of gallons of crude into the ocean.

Hayward handed over day-to-day management of the crisis in June to Bob Dudley, who has been named to succeed him in October and who will be the company's first non-British chief executive.

Hayward was skewered over his gaffe-filled handling of the disaster, especially after saying that he wanted his "life back" and downplaying the environmental impact of the spill.

But he defended his actions in the Journal interview, telling the paper that he did everything possible once the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in the Gulf, including taking responsibility for the spill and spending billions of dollars to try to stop the flow of oil and clean up the shoreline.

Hayward will remain a BP board member until November 30 and has been nominated as a non-executive director of Russian joint venture TNK-BP.

The Journal reported that Hayward was greeted with a standing ovation on Wednesday as he held the first in a series of employee town halls at corporate headquarters,

"If you keep clapping, I will cry," he said, with his voice cracking. "Having me as BP's public face has become untenable," he said, adding that moving away from the top post "a very tough decision."

At the same event, the daily wrote, BP's incoming chief executive Dudley praised his Hayward, telling BP employees that "it's a measure of the man that Tony is willing to step down, just when things are starting to go right."