State oil company Rosneftyesterday declared an interest in acquiring oil major BP’s 50 per cent stake in TNK-BP, its Russian joint venture, in a move that pits the Kremlin against some of the country’s most powerful oligarchs.
Analysts estimate that BP’s stake is worth between $25bn and $30bn. Rosneft has long been understood to be interested in it, but any move to acquire it sets up a potential clash between the state oil company headed by Igor Sechin, an ally of president Vladimir Putin, and the AAR consortium of oligarchs, BP’s current partners in TNK-BP, who want to buy the stake themselves.
Mr Sechin said Rosneft considered TNK-BP an “attractive commercial proposition”.