Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa)
BP's plans for a major Arctic oil exploration deal with Russian state oil group Rosneft suffered a major setback Tuesday following the failure of a massive share swap transaction agreed in January, the oil company said in London.
Talks to broker a settlement with TNK-BP, the company's existing Russian partner, which had blocked the deal, ended without agreement, meaning that BP missed a midnight deadline set by Rosneft to get the deal back on track.
BP said in a statement that discussions would continue between all parties.
The announcement is the latest twist in a protracted saga that started in January when BP and Rosneft announced a share swap of 8 billion pounds (13 billion dollars) that included exploration rights for the Kara Sea in the Arctic.
The deal was subsequently scuppered after TNK-BP successfully claimed it breached an earlier agreement that TNK-BP had to be included in deals undertaken by BP in Russia.
The latest talks reportedly involved a 18.5 billion-pound buyout of TNK-BP, which is owned by a consortium of Russian billionaires called Alfa Access Renova (AAR).
BP said Tuesday it was still hopeful a deal could be struck, adding it would intensify its efforts to ensure TNK-BP's continued success.
"In recent months, BP has conducted detailed negotiations with AAR and Rosneft to seek a reasonable and businesslike solution that would allow the agreements to proceed to the satisfaction of all parties."
"Such a solution has not been found at this time, although talks will continue," it said in a statement.
Copyright 2011 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
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