The chief executive of British oil giant BP, Tony Hayward, was likely to resign in the coming days in the aftermath of the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill, sources close to the company said Sunday.

The BBC said Sunday that there was a “strong likelihood” that Hayward would be replaced by Bob Dudley, who took over management of BP’s response to the spill from Hayward last month.

Earlier, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper reported that Hayward was poised to resign before BP announces its half-year results tomorrow.

BP has said that Hayward “has the support of the board and management” but has declined to make further comment on media reports.

BP’s board will consider Hayward’s future when it meets today to discuss the oil spill and the company’s second-quarter results due to be released tomorrow, said sources familiar with the situation.

They said the focus would be on the timing of Hayward’s departure, rather than whether or not he would stay with the company.

Ships and workers moved back into BP’s oil spill site Sunday as seas calmed, and BP will begin pumping mud into the blown-out well later this week in a bid to plug the gusher.

As remnants of tropical depression Bonnie dissipated over the Gulf Saturday, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, head of the US spill response, said a “static kill” operation to plug the well by pumping in heavy drilling mud and possibly cement could start in three to five days.

The spill has seriously damaged the reputation of the energy giant.

The head of the American Association of Professors accused BP Friday of trying to buy the silence of scientists and academics to protect itself after he Gulf oil spill, in a BBC interview.

“This is really one huge corporation trying to buy faculty silence in a comprehensive way,” said Cary Nelson.

A copy of a contract offered to scientists by BP, which the BBC said it had obtained, said scientists are not allowed to publish the research they do for BP.

They are also not allowed to speak about the data for at least three years or until the government gives final approval for the company’s restoration plan for the whole of the Gulf, said the BBC.

However, BP said it “does not place restrictions on academics speaking about scientific data,” according to the BBC.

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