A stark indictment of BP’s leadership style, corporate culture and cost-cutting has been delivered by one of the front-runners to succeed Lord Browne as the company’s chief executive.

The comments by Tony Hayward, BP’s chief executive for exploration and production, appeared on the company’s internal website under the heading “Hayward shares candid views on 2006”. His analysis of BP’s shortcomings could be seen almost as a manifesto for how he would lead the company out of its present troubles should he land the top job.