If BP’s board were to choose another chief executive, Mr. Dudley would be a leading internal candidate. The former head of BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, Mr. Dudley was forced to flee Russia after a bitter dispute with the company’s Russian partners. He has since kept a low profile at BP, serving on its board.

In a statement Friday, Representative Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who was one of Mr. Hayward’s harshest interrogators, said the BP chief had been “evasive and obstructive” in his testimony.

“Whether this change in gulf leadership for BP will be productive remains to be seen,” Mr. Stupak said. “I expect that Mr. Dudley will take a much more cooperative and open approach to answering our questions and responding to the needs of the gulf region. If not, his tenure will likely be as short lived as Mr. Hayward’s.”

Throughout the crisis, the company has publicly insisted that Mr. Hayward’s job is secure and that he remains very much in charge of the company. Mr. Gowers, the spokesman, said the board did not consider replacing Mr. Hayward at its meeting Monday.

At the outset of the crisis, the cherub-cheeked Mr. Hayward, 53, appeared to almost relish his sudden celebrity. He played down the environmental consequences of the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and repeatedly blamed Transocean, the rig owner, for the accident. He readily gave television interviews and took to quoting Winston Churchill and comparing BP’s response to the spill to World War II’s illustrious seaborne evacuation at Dunkirk.

But as the crisis wore on, a visibly tired Mr. Hayward repeatedly displayed a tin ear and became prone to embarrassing gaffes. Perhaps worst of all was his comment on May 31, when he said he would like the disaster to end because “I’d like my life back.” He later apologized.