Former BP boss Tony Hayward has been appointed permanent chairman of commodities trading and mining company Glencore Xstrata.

Hayward was appointed to the board in April 2011 before the company’s initial public offering (IPO). He served from the IPO as the senior independent director until May 2013 when he was appointed interim chairman.

Peter Grauer, chairman of Glencore’s nomination committee, says: “The board is very pleased to announce the appointment of Tony as permanent chairman, following an extensive search process. Over the last 12 months, Tony has provided exemplary leadership of the board and proved himself to be the outstanding candidate to take on the role permanently. We continue to look forward to harnessing his indepth knowledge of the resources industry and of listed company governance to underpin the mandate given to him as chairman to lead the board in helping to deliver long-term, sustainable returns for shareholders.”

Hayward was ousted from BP in July 2010 after the Gulf of Mexico disaster – the biggest marine oil spill in history.