"Rosneft once again underscores that it did not conduct and is not conducting any negotiations with the AAR group or TNK-BP," the company said in reference to the group of billionaires who make up the Russian half of the venture.

"TNK-BP has never been considered a potential participant in the alliance due to its lack of required competence," the statement added. BP and Rosneft have also agreed to explore and develop Rosneft's three licensed blocks on the Arctic continental shelf, a 125,000 square kilometre (50 square mile) region said to contain five billion tonnes of oil and 3.0 trillion cubic metres of gas. Its implementation has been blocked by a London court after TNK-BP argued that the deal violated the venture's shareholders agreement with BP.