BP's problems in the high-stakes Russian oil market mounted Friday with news that a Siberian court had set a hearing into a $3 billion claim by a local shareholder against the British energy giant. The long-anticipated announcement came in the wake of this year's failed bid by BP to strike an unprecedented share swap and joint Arctic oil exploration agreement with the Russian state-held giant Rosneft.
The May setback forced BP to reassess its growth strategy and jeopardised the health of TNK-BP - the lucrative joint venture it created in Russia with a group of local tycoons in 2003. The venture grew into one of the world's top 10 private oil companies on the back of a Kremlin decision to attract foreign majors into a Russian oil sector that was badly in need of new technology and direct investments.