Hayward has been on the board of Glencore since April 2011, before the company’s initial public offering. He was appointed as interim chairman in May, after Glencore and Xstrata merged and proposed chairman Sir John Bond was not re-elected.

Since then, an extensive search process has been underway for a new chairman.

“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,” chairman of Glencore’s Nomination Committee Peter Grauer said.

“We continue to look forward to harnessing his in-depth 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 joined BP as a rig geologist in 1982 and rose through the ranks to become CEO in 2007.

He stepped down in 2010, a few months after presiding over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Hayward is currently CEO of Genel Energy, a member of the European advisory board of AEA Capital and chairman of Compact GTL.