Hayward is currently the interim chairman and is in the running to take the job permanently, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Also in the running is Frank Chapman, former head of oil and gas producer BG Group.

Roger Agnelli, the former chief executive of Brazil’s Vale, rounds out the reported shortlist.

The Journal said it was not clear who the front runner is, or how many candidates there are.

Hayward – who is currently the chief executive of explorer Genel Energy, which is active in Africa and Iraqi Kurdistan – became interim chairman of Glencore in May 2013.

Glencore said at the time that Hayward had been appointed “with the intention that he will step down once a new chairman takes up the role”.

Glencore declined to comment.

Hayward, who resigned as BP’s chief executive in the wake of the 2010 Macondo oil spill, had been a director of Glencore since early 2011 before the monster $76 billion merger with Xstrata.

If he got the job, it was not immediately clear what would become of the top spot at Genel.