BP says it has set aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the costs linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Kazan, July 27, Tatar-inform). BP says it has set aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the costs linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, reports the BBC.

The company said the charge meant it recorded a loss of $17bn for the three months between April and June.

BP also confirmed that chief executive Tony Hayward would leave the company in October.

He will be replaced by fellow executive, Bob Dudley, who is currently in charge of day-to-day clean-up operations in the Gulf.

Mr Hayward said now that oil had stopped spilling from the Macondo well it was a good time to leave the company.

"With the leak now capped, we have reached a significant milestone. This provides a firm basis to reshape the company," he said.

The $32.2bn cost of the clean up includes the $20bn already set aside in an escrow account for compensation claims.

Stripping out the oil spill costs, BP made a second quarter profit, on a replacement cost basis, of £5bn, compared with $2.9bn for the second quarter of 2009.

On Monday, the BBC revealed that Mr Hayward would be entitled to draw an annual pension of £600,000.

Mr Hayward's pension pot is valued at about £11m and he will keep his rights to shares under a long-term performance scheme which could - depending on BP's stock market recovery - eventually be worth several million pounds.

The explosion on the drilling rig off Louisiana on 20 April, which killed 11 workers and triggered the worst oil spill in the US, raised questions about Mr Hayward's leadership.