Rosneft Eyes Stake In TNK-BP

OAO Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer, is reportedly pursuing a stake in TNK-BP, the joint venture between Russian oligarchs and BP (NYSE: BP). Russian consortium Alfa Group, Access and Renova (AAR) may sell its stake in TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, to Rosneft, according to Russian business daily Vedomosti.

Rosneft is looking at buying a 50% stake in TNK-BP from AAR and a 1% stake from BP, Europe's second-largest oil company, to take majority control of the venture that accounts for 25% BP's output and 20% of its total reserves. Last month, Rosneft and BP announced a $16 billion share swap that saw the Russian firm pay $7.8 billion for 5% of BP. The two oil giants will partner to explore for oil in three blocks of the Russian Arctic Circle.

AAR filed a lawsuit in a London court earlier this week seeking to block the deal, claiming TNK-BP has exclusive rights to BP's Russian business. TNK-BP believes a BP-Rosneft partnership could hurt its own plans to grow production and profits. The share swap is on ice while BP deals with the legal proceedings and Rosneft has said TNK-BP will not be part of the Arctic plans.

BP CEO Bob Dudley, who formerly ran TNK-BP before being expelled from Russia, said he was surprised by the suit, but not worried about it. After the BP-Rosneft deal was announced last month, Rosneft said it had no claims to TNK-BP assets, but rumors previously circulated that Rosneft was interested in acquiring TNK-BP's stake in BP.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has pledged to stay away from the TNK-BP/BP spat, according to Bloomberg News.

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