Under-fire BP boss Tony Hayward has handed over day-to-day control of the Gulf of Mexico crisis as the oil giant set up a new division to manage the spill.
BP board director Bob Dudley, a US citizen who grew up in Mississippi, will lead the new Gulf Coast Restoration Organisation.
The appointment leaves Mr Hayward, who has caused outrage in the US with a series of PR blunders following the catastrophe, to focus on the rest of the business.
Meanwhile David Cameron is expected to discuss BP with US President Barack Obama when the two meet this weekend, Cameron's spokesman said on Wednesday.
Cameron has been under pressure to persuade Obama to ease off his criticism of BP following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama and Cameron will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G8/G20 summits in Canada on Saturday.