BP moves closer to Rosneft tie-up

Oil giant BP today moved closer to salvaging a proposed tie-up with Russian government-owned Rosneft after appeasing a group of angered shareholders.

BP will hand over Arctic exploration rights, included in the original deal, to existing Russian joint venture TNK-BP to secure an £8 billion share swap with Rosneft.

The move comes amid a fierce arbitration process between BP and its partners, a consortium called Alfa Access Renova (AAR), who accused the embattled supermajor of breaching its obligations with TNK-BP.

Rosneft must now approve the handover of the Arctic opportunity, as well as a technical amendment of the share swap terms, for the revised deal to go ahead.

An interim injunction, imposed by arbitrators in Sweden, blocking the deal remains in place until Rosneft give consent.