Embattled BP chief executive Tony Hayward is to have a reduced role dealing with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told the SkyNews that Hayward would be handing the role over to Robert Dudley, the managing director of the oil company.

The demotion occurs one day after Hayward was raked over the coals by angry U.S. lawmakers during congressional hearings in Washington.

Svanberg conceded that his colleague had struggled with maintaining good communication with the public throughout the disaster.

"It is clear Tony has made remarks that have upset people," Mr. Svanberg said to Sky News.

Svanberg himself was forced to say sorry for calling Gulf residents "small people."

However, a London-based BP spokesman told The Associated Press on Friday evening that Hayward is still in charge of the daily spill response effort.

Spokesman Robert Wine said that Hayward is "still very much in charge in the response of this crisis."

Lawmakers accused of the CEO of "stonewalling" the hearing during five hours of testimony.

During the hearing, Hayward repeatedly said that he had little information about his company's safety operations.

He also refused to talk about what may have caused the oil well to blow, citing the need for BP to wrap up its investigation into the incident.

"I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process," Hayward said Thursday, angering both Democrats and Republicans.

Hayward has made several remarks that have only added to the public's anger against the company.

Costner weighs in

Actor Kevin Costner continued to pitch a device owned by his company which is designed to separate oil from water.

The actor appeared in Washington on Thursday and told lawmakers that his company, called Ocean Therapy Solutions, has developed a system whereby water can be cleaned through a centrifuge system.

"Clearly, there is a market out there," said the actor, who appeared before a Senate committee.

Costner has invested more than $24 million to develop the portable device, which was inspired by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska two decades ago.

The centrifuges can sit on a fishing boat and clean 210,000 gallons of water each day. That is the equivalent of about 5000 barrels of oil.

BP has contacted Costner's company and asked to use 32 of the devices.

Costner said that he "didn't come to save the day," but he is thankful that the technology is being used.

Meanwhile, as public anger continued to swell against BP, it appeared the company was making some progress in diverting some of the spilling oil.

BP believes that oil is leaking into the Gulf at a rate of between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels each day. On Thursday, the company says it collected 25,290 barrels of crude.

"I was quite encouraged," said BP official Kent Wells on Friday. The company hopes to collect 50,000 barrels a day by the end of June.

So far, the company says it has collected 204,200 barrels of oil. Wells added that the progress can only be described as incremental.

"Things have gone well down to this stage, but that doesn't always mean things will continue to go well," he said.

By mid-July, the company is aiming to collect up to 60,000 barrels per day.