Annus horribilis for BP puts Browne's future in spotlight

It is now desperately trying to rebuild its reputation, which has been hurt by a string of scandals including an explosion at the Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers last year followed by a massive oil spill in March this year in which 270,000 gallons of crude leaked into Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.

Problems at its key Thunder Horse platform in the Gulf of Mexico and investigations into alleged market manipulation have also rocked the firm.

Company supporters point out that "isolated incidents" in the US do not mean there are major problems elsewhere in the company.

But the City has yet to be convinced, and BP shares have fallen by 20 per cent since April.

The poor performance has left a question mark over the future of Browne, regularly feted as the leading oil man of his generation. After an apparent boardroom battle with chairman Peter Sutherland, Browne secured an extension to his tenure as chief executive to the end of BP's centenary year in 2008. But some observers wonder how much of 2007 he can survive, given the pending Baker Report into Texas City and the under-performance of BP shares.

Browne has drafted in Bob Malone, the head of BP's US operations, to get to grips with safety and regulation.

It is thought that BP will appoint a chief operating officer in the first half of next year to take over from Lord Browne when he stands down.

The company still faces a criminal investigation into the leak and in August it was forced to halve the capacity of production at Prudhoe Bay - the largest oil field in the US - after the discovery of corroded pipes.

BP has also been forced to put back the reopening of the Thunder Horse facility from 2007 to the middle of 2008 after it was damaged by Hurricane Dennis last year.

The platform is the largest in the Gulf and is expected to produce about 240,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.