State-controlled Rosneft, calling its offshore alliance with BP "strategic", on Friday rebuffed an attempt by the local partners in BP's Russian venture to get involved in the deal. Rosneft struck a pact with BP in January to explore for oil in the Arctic offshore and agreed to a $16 billion share swap, but the deal quickly ran into opposition from the tycoons who own half of TNK-BP.
Arguing that the deal violated the TNK-BP shareholders' agreement, the Russian partners won a London court injunction to put the deal on hold. They have since proposed that TNK-BP supplant BP in the share swap with Rosneft, paying $7.6 billion for a 5 percent stake in BP that would then be swapped into 10 percent of Rosneft. In a statement, Rosneft said it had held no talks with TNK-BP or its Russian shareholders, represented through the AAR consortium. "TNK-BP was never considered as a possible participant in the alliance and has never made proposals to Rosneft reflecting its interest in working offshore," the statement said.
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