BP, Rosneft deal a trend setter?

MOSCOW, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The $16 billion deal between Russian oil company Rosneft and BP could be a trend-setting venture in Russia, an aide to the Russian president said Wednesday.

British energy company BP and Rosneft agreed to a deal that would give BP access to exploration sites in the arctic, where melting sea ice is revealing vast oil and gas reserves previously unreachable.

The companies agreed to set up a joint venture to develop offshore blocks in the north of Russian where Rosneft holds acreage.

Arkady Dvorkovich, an aide to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, told Russian news Web site gazeta.ru that the deal could be a breakthrough for the Russian economy.

"I think such deals should become normal practice," he was quoted as saying. "The deal stands out on the global investment market on the whole. It could be one of the star deals of 2011."

Dvorkovich noted that Medvedev wants to advance the privatization of companies like Rosneft, adding the BP deal was a start of the economic overhaul.

"It is quite logical step not only in the logic of asset swaps in the oil and gas sector but also in the logic of privatization," he said.