Oil giant BP plunged into the red for the first time in 18 years today as it racked up a huge $32.2 billion (£20.8 billion sterling) bill for the Gulf of Mexico spill.
BP, which also confirmed the departure of chief executive Tony Hayward, posted a loss of $17 billion (£11 billion) for the months between April and June following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
The firm is replacing Mr Hayward with American Bob Dudley in October. It also announced a shake-up of its portfolio including up to $30 billion (£19.3 billion) in asset sales over the next 18 months.
Mr Hayward - who has committed a series of PR blunders since the crisis began - leaves with a pay-off of one year's salary - £1.045m - and an £11m pension pot.
He will step down on October 1 but remain on the BP board until the end of November and has been put forward as a non-executive director of the firm's TNK-BP Russian joint venture.
BPchairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said the firm was 'deeply saddened' to lose a chief executive whose success 'was so widely and deservedly admired'.
But he added that the Deepwater Horizon explosion - which left 11 workers dead - had been a 'watershed incident'. 'It will be a different company going forward, requiring fresh leadership supported by robust governance and a very engaged board,' Mr Svanberg said.
Mr Hayward first joined the company in 1982 and has been chief executive since 2007. Before the spill he had been credited for reviving the fortunes of the oil giant.
'The Gulf of Mexico explosion was a terrible tragedy for which - as the man in charge of BP when it happened - I will always feel a deep responsibility, regardless of where blame is ultimately found to lie,' Mr Hayward said in a statement.
'BP will be a changed company as a result and it is right that it should embark on its next phase under new leadership,' he added.
The huge charge paid out by BP includes the direct costs of tackling the spill, clean-up costs for the catastrophe and a $20 billion compensation fund agreed in June.
Mr Hayward said the firm would pay most of the direct costs by the end of the year, although the remaining bill - including longer-term compensation as well as fines and penalties - is 'likely to be spread over a number of years'.
BP taking cautious approach to oil spill fall-out
He added that the company had reached a 'significant milestone' after the capping of the well, but the firm was taking a cautious approach to dealing with the financial fall-out of the disaster.
A programme of asset sales is planned to leave BP with a 'smaller but higher quality' exploration and production business, while the company also plans to cut net debts to between $10-15 billion from the current $23 billion.
Shareholders in BP - a staple holding for UK pension funds - have already felt the pain as the firm cut its dividend payouts for the first time since the Second World War. It will consider whether to restart share payouts in February next year.
Stripping out the impact of the Gulf, BP said its underlying performance was 'very encouraging', with a 72% hike profits of $5 billion - meaning that the company was in 'robust shape' to meet its obligations.
The firm's refining and marketing operations posted their best performance since 2006, when refining margins were double their current levels. The US operations also returned to profit for the first time in more than a year.
Higher prices for oil and gas also helped its exploration and production business grow profits despite a 4% fall in production on last year due to disruption caused by the oil spill.
