BP's Tony Considine Resigns

MOSCOW -- After five years heading its refining, trading and marketing divisions, BP executive vice president for downstream, Tony Considine, submitted his resignation, which will become effective Sept. 15.

"Tony has led the transformation of our refining and marketing business, including value chain optimization, which has translated directly into consistently excellent financial results," TNK-BP Chief Operating Officer Tim Summers told Reuters.

Subsequent to his current role, Considine held the position of executive vice president since TNK-BP began operations in August 2003. According to the report, Chief Executive Robert Dudley is managing the company from overseas due to a recent banning from a Moscow court that forced his exile for a period of two years. The judgment was purportedly due to severe operational disagreements between BP and Russian billionaires connected to the company’s holdings, Reuters reported.

In other news, BP settled legal cases with four additional victims of a deadly 2005 blast at a Texas refinery, which leaves only one pending out of the more than 4,000 lawsuits filed, according to a separate Reuters report.

The lawsuits were brought forth after the March 23, 2005, explosion at the Texas City refinery, which killed 15 workers and injured 180 others.

"Our goal from the outset has been to fairly compensate people harmed by this tragedy," BP spokesman, Ronnie Chappell, told Reuters.

As part of the settlements, BP agreed to release millions of pages of internal documents. While the terms of the settlements are confidential, lead plaintiffs’ attorney Brent Coon told Reuters, "Our clients are very pleased with the settlement, which provides some assurances of security for their long-term financial needs."

BP originally set aside $2.1 billion to resolve the claims made against the company following the explosion, Reuters reported. Relatives of workers killed along with people injured by the blast have asked a federal judge to throw out a plea deal BP arranged, and contested the suggested fine was too small for a company that posted a second-quarter profit of $6.85 billion, Reuters reported.

To date, BP paid a fine of $21.4 million to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for worker safety violations revealed in the blast. The judge’s ruling is not expected before the fall, according to the report.
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