Friday, March 25, 2011
by William Mauldin
Dow Jones Newswires
Rosneft Chairman Igor Sechin said the company is ready to defend its $16 billion tie-up with BP, after an arbitration tribunal extended a ban on the deal following complaints from BP's existing Russian partners, Russian newswires reported Friday.
State-controlled Rosneft is already suffering losses because the panel extended an injunction blocking the deal at the behest of BP's partner in TNK-BP, Sechin said, according to an Interfax report.
Sechin, who is also Russia's powerful deputy prime minister overseeing energy, said the final arbitration ruling will come out of Stockholm only on April 7. Rosneft is "not in negotiations" with AAR, BP's partner in TNK-BP, nor has it received proposal from AAR, Sechin said, according to the reports.
BP said late Thursday that the arbitration tribunal ruled that a temporary court injunction against BP's deal with Rosneft "should continue." In a statement, BP said it was "disappointed" that the agreements "cannot for now go ahead in the form intended."
Besides BP and Rosneft, the panel's ruling is seen as a setback for Sechin, who has sought to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment into Russia's oil sector.
Shares of Rosneft sank 1.2% to RUB266.10 on the Micex Stock Exchange at 1220 GMT, compared with only a slight decline for the broader index.
State-controlled Rosneft is already suffering losses because the panel extended an injunction blocking the deal at the behest of BP's partner in TNK-BP, Sechin said, according to an Interfax report.
Sechin, who is also Russia's powerful deputy prime minister overseeing energy, said the final arbitration ruling will come out of Stockholm only on April 7. Rosneft is "not in negotiations" with AAR, BP's partner in TNK-BP, nor has it received proposal from AAR, Sechin said, according to the reports.
BP said late Thursday that the arbitration tribunal ruled that a temporary court injunction against BP's deal with Rosneft "should continue." In a statement, BP said it was "disappointed" that the agreements "cannot for now go ahead in the form intended."
Besides BP and Rosneft, the panel's ruling is seen as a setback for Sechin, who has sought to attract billions of dollars of foreign investment into Russia's oil sector.
Shares of Rosneft sank 1.2% to RUB266.10 on the Micex Stock Exchange at 1220 GMT, compared with only a slight decline for the broader index.
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