BP proposes buying stake in Rosneft
Oil giant BP is eyeing a stake in Rosneft, following negotiations with the Russian oil firm to buy the British oil major’s stake in TNK-BP, Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin said today.
BP confirmed today that if it were successful in selling its 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP, it would be “interested in investing some of the proceeds in buying shares in Rosneft”.
Rosneft is understood to be talking to banks about raising $15bn (£9.2bn) in financing to buy BP’s stake in TNK-BP, following BP chief Bob Dudley’s meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss the sale.
Sechin, speaking at a conference in Sochi, Russia, said that a deal structure is not yet fully developed. He added that no offer from AAR, which owns 50 per cent of TNK-BP, had come forward, but he would be willing to discuss a buyout of AAR’s stake if an offer were made.
In June, BP announced it would start the process of selling its 50 per cent stake in Russia’s third largest oil company TNK-BP, and in July Rosneft said it was in talks to acquire half of the troubled venture.