MOSCOW, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A consortium representing Russian interests in TNK-BP said it may sell its stake in the venture to Russian oil company Rosneft, sources close to the deal said.
Anglo-Russian venture TNK-BP is at odds with British energy company BP and Russian oil company Rosneft over an asset swap that included exploration deals in the Russian arctic.
Prior to that, Russian moguls represented by the Alfa-Access Renova group forced Bob Dudley, now BP's chief executive officer, from his leadership position at TNK-BP in 2008 because they viewed his allegiance as favorable to the British side of the consortium.
Sources close to the matter said AAR is considering selling its stake in TNK-BP to Rosneft where the Russian oil company takes a 50 percent stake in TNK-BP from AAR and a 1 percent stake from BP, Russia's RIA Novosti reports, citing the Russian-language business daily Vedomosti.
BP last month 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, however, placed a temporary injunction on the deal following a lawsuit filed by AAR.
AAR accused BP of going against the shareholder agreement when it signed the joint deal Rosneft.
