BP will be accused today of failing to provide adequate resources to ensure safety at its US refineries.

"BP has not always ensured that it identified and provided the resources required for strong process safety performance at its US refineries," concluded James A Baker III, the former US secretary of state, in a detailed report on BP's US refineries that will be released today. The report, which runs to several hundred pages, identifies safety culture problems across BP's north American refining organisation, said a person who read it.

It also puts the onus on BP's board of directors to lead an overhaul of the safety culture at BP's US refineries and monitor progress over the next number of years, the person said.

The report was given to BP last Wednesday, prompting speculation among those close to the investigation that it was tied to Lord Browne's abrupt decision on Friday to stand down as chief executive 18 months ahead of schedule.

Lord Browne has led BP for 12 years. The investigation by Mr Baker was urged on BP by the US Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency responsible for investigating the causes of accidents due to hazardous materials in commerce and industry. The urgent recommendation that BP hire Mr Baker to lead such a panel followed the CSB's preliminary investigation into an explosion at BP's Texas City refinery - the company's biggest - that killed 15 and injured 500 in the worst US industrial accident in a decade.

Mr Baker and his panel of industry specialists and former company executives spent more than a year reviewing BP's US refineries, even delaying the release of the report several times because of the breadth of the information gathered.

BP's problems will not end with the embarrassment caused by the Baker report.

The company is undergoing a grand jury investigation in Texas - and a separate one in Alaska - for possible criminal charges relating to its safety problems.

In Alaska, BP was forced to shut half its oilfield last year due to severe corrosion after the biggest ever spill at Prudhoe Bay, north America's largest oilfield.

BP has consistently denied any problem with its safety culture, insisting that problems in Texas, Alaska and the smaller ones in other states are one-offs.

The Chemical Safety Board is to issue its final report on BP's Texas City explosion in March.

- (Financial Times service)