Tony Hayward, is set to step down as the chief executive of BP possibly as early as Monday, according to people close to the company.

The board is meeting on Monday to make a final decision.

Speculation has surrounded his position since an explosion at its Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest oil spill in US history.

BP said: "Tony Hayward remains the chief executive and has the full support of the board and senior management."

Reuters reported that the BP board would consider the timing of his departure when it meets on Monday to discuss the oil spill and the firm's second-quarter results. The BBC said Mr Hayward had been discussing the terms of his exit, which was likely within 24 hours.

A significant pay-off would be likely to provokecriticism from US politicians who have focused their anger over the spill on the 53-year-old who took on the chief executive's role in 2007, after the departure of the long-serving Lord Browne.

The favourite to replace Mr Hayward is Robert Dudley, who is from the US and who has been overseeing BP's response to the spill. Mr Dudley joined the BP board in February 2009.

BP's second-quarter results are due to be published on Tuesday. The company could report a loss for the quarter, according to some estimates, owing to the cost of capping the spill, which could reach £20bn.

A tropical storm forced the company to suspend operations on capping the spill, but these are expected to resume within the next few days, when BP should be able to pump mud into the well as one of the final stages in the operation to seal off the leak.

Carl-Henric Svanberg, chairman of BP, will have the final say on Mr Hayward's future. His own position has also been called into question as efforts have dragged on since April 20 to cope with the oil spill, in which millions of barrels of oil were leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.