The chief executive of BP Plc has pledged to turn the oil giant around in the next two to three years after he outlined plans last week to address industry-lagging profitability. Tony Hayward told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper in London that the group had been on the downward spiral for three or four years and it would take "two to three years to come back up". Hayward outlined his plans on Thursday to slash management layers, adopt consistent procedures for developing oil and gas fields and reduce "unacceptably high" costs.