BP WILL this week receive a mauling from an independent panel set up to examine its health-and-safety record in the wake of a disastrous string of incidents at its American operations.

The criticisms are expected to be sufficiently severe to lead to the departure of more senior BP executives, following the surprise announcement on Friday that chief executive Lord Browne would be leaving early.

Pressure is increasing on John Manzoni, head of refining and marketing. “Manzoni has been under big pressure for months. Now that Browne has set a date he is all the more likely to go,” said one City source, who noted that shareholders had already questioned Manzoni’s position.

But the report is understood to be severe enough to provoke more widespread action, and will be critical of directors. It was compiled by an eminent panel led by James Baker, the former secretary of state who more recently wrote a report on the future of Iraq for the American government. Baker was appointed in October 2005 after an explosion and fire at BP’s Texas refinery killed 15 people and injured 170. The panel’s findings will be published in Houston on Tuesday.

BP board members are said to be ready for “a spanking”, said one insider. A shareholder who met Browne for lunch before Christmas said the report would be “blistering”.

Shareholders had been briefed that the report would be out before Christmas. There has been a flurry of activity at BP in recent weeks to determine how to respond to the findings.

Browne’s departure has ended a period of uncertainty over succession at BP. He had been due to step down next year, but after discussions with the chairman, Peter Sutherland — in which Sir William Castell, the former Amersham chief executive who recently joined the BP board, is understood to have played a leading role — he decided to depart early.

He will leave at the end of July, to be replaced by Tony Hayward, head of exploration and production. Browne will join Apax, the private-equity group, and lead its supervisory board.

He is in line to receive a package of more than £30m on his departure once his existing shares, long-term incentive plans, salary and bonus are taken into account, and will be able to call on a pension pot of nearly £20m, according to the company’s latest annual report.

BP shares jumped 3% on the announcement of his departure. Charles Hamel, a former oil executive and long-time critic of Browne, said his image was tarnished. “If you look through Browne’s statements in recent years they are about cutting costs, cutting costs and cutting costs in his vain attempt to displace Shell as No 2. The result has been multiple fatalities and Prudhoe Bay (an oil spill in Alaska that followed the explosion at the Texas refinery).”

But Browne’s reign has earned him fans among shareholders. “Lord Browne has done a fantastic job,” said William Claxton-Smith of Insight, a top 10 BP shareholder. “It’s a pity he’s leaving on a slightly low note but I am sure he will be judged for the whole period he was in charge rather than the past few months.”

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