BP faced fresh pressure to oust John Manzoni as the head of its refining and marketing business yesterday after the publication of a damning internal report into the fatal Texas City explosion.

The internal report, released on the orders of a Texas state judge, revealed that Mr Manzoni failed to heed “serious warning signals” in the run-up to the blast at Texas City that killed 15 workers and injured hundreds more two years ago. It added that Mr Manzoni, 49, seemed more interested in commercial issues than process safety.

The report came as Tony Hayward, BP’s new chief executive, told staff that it was “time to move on, rebuild momentum and restore pride”, in his first address since taking over from Lord Browne of Madingley on Tuesday.

The Times revealed yesterday that Mr Hayward will present plans for a shake-up at a board meeting in Washington next week.

One analyst last night said: “I think it’s going to be very difficult for John Manzoni to stay now.”

Speculation over Mr Manzoni’s future has been mounting since the turn of the year.

An investigation by the US Chemical Safety Board in March found that “at least one” executive on the BP board received a series of safety audits warning of problems at Texas City.

BP’s internal report, carried out last year by a former executive, Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking, said that Mr Manzoni could partially be excused as his subordinates had not clearly communicated “the brutal facts that fundamentally the Texas City refinery was unsafe”.

While Mr Manzoni was not on a list of four executives singled out for dismissal, industry insiders last night said it was almost certain that he would fall victim to an imminent boardroom reshuffle.

A BP spokesman last night said: “As a matter of policy, BP does not comment on personnel matters.”

Mr Hayward addressed staff in Bochum, Germany, yesterday before a question-and-answer session relayed to employees around the world. He said his priorities were “safety, people and performance”.

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