The appointment of the next chief executive of BP is nearing its endgame. But there are still opportunities for the oil giant to make a hash of the final details.

The process of identifying a successor to Lord Browne, who has been chief executive since 1995, has mostly been amateurish so far. A boardroom spat over his leaving date became public in the summer. The chairman then forced him to commit to stepping down at the end of 2008.