Doubts returned over BP's prospects for a return to growth on Tuesday as a UK court blocked its plans for a tie-up with Russia's Rosneft and the British oil company delivered below forecast profit. BP's oligarch partners in Russia's TNK-BP have won an injunction blocking a plan for a share swap and exploration deal with state-controlled Rosneft, one of the lawyers in the court told Reuters on Tuesday.
AAR, the holding vehicle through which the oligarchs own half of TNK-BP, had argued that the tie-up breached an agreement that BP would seek AAR's approval before entering any major new ventures in Russia. Disappointing oil production guidance and new oil spill charges also overshadowed BP's results day, in which it flagged a return to paying dividends for the first time since the Gulf of Mexico spill.