Dudley Says Rosneft Deal Is Dead

BP

CEO Bob Dudley has declared his company's aspirations for a $16 billion share exchange with OAO Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, dead, adding that BP is “moving on” and looking for opportunities in other locations. At a BP event in London Dudley, the company's first American-born CEO, defended his company's position, saying the collapse of the Rosneft deal wasn't a blow to BP's growth plans and that the company has plenty of other options to consider, according to the Wall Street Journal. Dudley was expelled from Russia when he was head of TNK-BP, the British oil giant's joint Russian venture with oligarch investors, and the failed attempt at an Arctic exploration pact with Rosneft is viewed by some as Dudley's latest misstep in Russia, the world's largest oil producer. It was TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil company, that pursued litigation to block the BP/Rosneft deal, ultimately leading to its demise. Still, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said the company remained Rosneft's "favored partner” the Journal reported, perhaps bringing false to hope where it has no place. BP's plans in Russia were viewed as vital to the company's efforts rejuvenate output, which has been declining as Europe's second-largest oil company has divested $25 billion in assets since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in April 2010. The company says it plans to start more than 30 projects by the end of 2016, adding around a million barrels of oil a day to production, which stood at 3.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter, according to the Journal.