BP opens Rosneft Arctic deal to TNK-BP

BP has agreed to cede its share of an Arctic oil exploration pact with Rosneft to its half-owned affiliate TNK-BP in a compromise with Russian partners who have fought for a slice of the action. A parallel $16 billion share swap deal between the British oil company and Russia's state-controlled oil group Rosneft can now go ahead, the TNK-BP partners said in a joint statement, citing a decision by an arbitration panel.
Both moves are subject to the agreement of Rosneft itself. Rosneft declined to comment on the prospect of changing partners, but Russia's Deputy Prime Minister and Rosneft board member Igor Sechin has previously said Rosneft does not want TNK-BP to be involved in the Arctic deal because it has no deepwater offshore expertise. The owners of the other half of TNK-BP expressed their satisfaction at having muscled in on a deal that was BP's first major strategic move after last year's US Gulf oil spill disaster shattered its reputation and hammered its share price. "We welcome today's developments," said Stan Polovets, chief executive of Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the consortium that represents the quartet of billionaire shareholders.
Polovets said AAR wanted both to uphold the integrity of TNK-BP's shareholders agreement and participate in the Arctic venture, which it saw as a "great opportunity for TNK-BP". "Today's agreement provides a good way forward for achieving these priorities and opens the way to bring BP's valuable expertise and technology to offshore exploration in Russia."
TNK-BP has no Arctic offshore exploration expertise of its own, but as Russia's third biggest oil company with maturing oilfields its Russian owners do not want it to miss out on the big new Arctic prospects. BP's shares rose 3.1 percent on the news to 436.5 pence, but some analysts were unconvinced of the workability of the plan, even if Rosneft agrees to it.