BP’s Russia partners reject stake offer

BP’s partners in its Russian venture TNK-BP rejected the UK oil major’s offer to settle a dispute caused by its $18bn (£11bn) tie-up with Rosneft, casting further doubt on the deal.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley said that BP’s billionaire partners had rejected its offer to buy their 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP for $27-$28bn.

BP, which owns the other half of TNK-BP, believes the Russians’ AAR consortium is angling to be bought out of the venture at a high price – possibly over $35bn.

Mr Dudley has said he will not overpay for the stake in Russia’s third-largest oil company.

Stan Polovets, AAR chief executive, said: “Now is the time for sensible proposals from BP to resolve the problems that have been created.”

Polovets said AAR was not planning to sell out of TNK-BP. He said the Russian shareholders wanted BP to conduct its planned $16bn share swap and $1.2-$2bn Arctic Sea exploration deal with Rosneft through TNK-BP instead, in line with the joint venture’s shareholder agreement.

Rosneft President Eduard Khudainatov said the state-owned company was not discussing a joint bid with BP for the 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP.

A BP spokesman said the group was no longer in negotiations with AAR. AAR convinced an arbitration panel to block both elements of the Rosneft deal pending a settlement between the two sides.

Analysts and investors are growing increasingly pessimistic over the deal, which was supposed to signal BP’s recovery after last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, will be sealed.