MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Officials at Russian oil company Rosneft said they weren't about to let TNK-BP in on a deal with BP to drill for oil in the arctic waters of Russia.
BP agreed to pay Rosneft more than $8 billion in shares for a 9.5 percent stake in the Russian energy company in addition to a development agreement for the Kara Sea on Russian's northern continental shelf.
A London court placed a temporary injunction on the deal following a lawsuit filed by the Alfa-Access Renova group of shareholders representing Russian interests in TNK-BP.
AAR accused BP of going against the shareholder agreement when it signed the joint deal Rosneft.
Rosneft Chief Financial Officer Peter O'Brien was quoted by London's The Telegraph newspaper as saying TNK-BP wouldn't be part of the deal.
"They have neither the technology, nor the experience, nor the personnel," he said.
BP Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said before the injunction that BP would "consider" working with TNK-BP, though O'Brien said nothing would happen before the end of February.
"Anything is possible but in reality I do not see a resolution before the start of the arbitration process," he was quoted as saying.
