Rosneft, BP not discussing joint purchase of AAR stake in TNK-BP - Khudainatov
MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - Russian oil company Rosneft and British Petroleum are not discussing a joint buy-up of the AAR consortium's (Alfa Group, Access Industries, and Renova) stake in TNK-BP , Rosneft President Eduard Khudainatov told the press.
"No, we are not discussing it. Our partners have requested agreement on prolonging the deal, as you know, and anticipate a resolution of this issue," he said.
The issue of Rosneft replacing its partner in the alliance, for example with Shell, is not being discussed either. "We aren't discussing this, we're waiting for a decision," he said.
"We're hoping the Cypriot shareholders will come to an agreement with BP. They have various options. We're not currently looking at any options. We've selected our preferred partner and we're waiting for their legal situation to be resolved. And we're hoping only for the best, that they'll resolve it," Khudainatov said.
"A lot can happen this month. The Stockholm tribunal might, for example, allow the share swap, or other possibilities."
If the tribunal does not allow the share swap, then Rosneft will make its decisions depending on prevailing circumstances, he said.
"We're not yet currently fantasizing, we're hoping for a reasonable solution to the issue between the Cypriot shareholders and BP. Rosneft is not standing still, we work on our Arctic projects every day, we have the construction of a drilling platform, we're finishing the technical specification, working with various consultants and companies and moving forward. We'll reach a decision that is best for the company and its shareholders on the basis of the conditions that emerge," Khudainatov said.
BP chief Robert Dudley confirmed that the AAR consortium had rejected an offer by BP to buy it out of TNK-BP for $27 billion-$29 billion. But he said AAR had not approached BP about selling its stake for $40 billion. "I heard about this from the papers, but AAR has not made contact with us," Dudley said.
