Oil giant BP plunged into the red for the first time in 18 years as it racked up a huge 32.2 billion US dollar (£20.8 billion) bill for the Gulf of Mexico spill.

BP, which also confirmed the departure of chief executive Tony Hayward, posted a loss of 17 billion dollars (£11 billion) for the April-June period following the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.

The firm is replacing Mr Hayward with US citizen Bob Dudley and also announced a shake-up of its portfolio including up to 30 billion dollars (£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 – £1.045 million – and an £11 million 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.