THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRECEDING MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SACKED

News reports are flying at this hour that BP CEO Tony Hayward has negotiated a mutual separation from the company scheduled for Monday...

BP Plc has decided Chief Executive Tony Hayward should step down over his handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and his departure could be announced in the coming days, sources close to the company said on Sunday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that if BP's board approves Hayward's departure as expected, managing director Bob Dudley would be named to replace him as CEO.

But BP is strenuously denying that any such deal exists.

BP Sunday refused to confirm reports that its embattled chief executive Tony Hayward was on the verge of leaving the oil giant.

"Tony Hayward remains our chief executive and has the full support of the board and senior management," company spokesman Mark Salt told CNN.

Not sure who is telling the truth here.   The time to fire Hayward to save BP from embarrassing press releases about the guy was months ago.  Indeed with the Brits complaining BP was being unfairly targeted and the British Prime Minister visiting Obama in Washington to smooth things over, not even Hayward's absurdly bad testimony on Capitol Hill could seemingly sink his career.

The leak supposedly is capped.  BP in fact is basking in something of a major victory.  Why fire Hayward now?  No real profit in doing so now, plus they lose a scapegoat should things go all pear-shaped on the relief wells.

Of course, there is the little wrinkle that BP's 2nd quarter numbers are supposed to be out on Tuesday.  The fact that Hayward is running for the hills on Sunday/Monday juuuuuust might mean something about the state of those numbers.  Maybe Hayward really is getting his golden parachute just before this jet plane augers into Wall Street, and he's jumping just in time.  Maybe the numbers are going to be that bad.

But Hayward needs to land in a prison yard as far as I'm concerned...or a big toxic sticky blob of oil and Corexit.dispersant.