BP battles to rescue Russian tie-up

BP was today holding last-ditch talks over a plan to rescue a multi-billion pound Arctic exploration and share-swap deal.

The British oil giant has tabled an £18.5bn (€21.2bn) buyout of its existing Russian partners in 50/50 joint venture TNK-BP, in a move to salvage a tie-up with Russian government owned Rosneft, the Wall Street Journal said.