BP courts Chinese, Indian investors for Rosneft stake: press
BP has entered preliminary talks with potential buyers in China and India for its 19.75% stake in Rosneft as it looks to drum up interest amid global sanctions on Russian trade, Bloomberg reported on March 30.
Early negotiations are underway between the UK oil and gas major and India's ONGC and Indian Oil, as well as China's two big upstream players, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Sinopec.
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Bloomberg said BP's efforts were yet to gain traction, but a deal to divest the Rosneft stake to a Chinese or Indian firm would be unsurprising given that China and India remain neutral to Moscow's actions in Ukraine. While sanctions will not impact an Indian or Chinese buyer, Rosneft's reduced access to Western markets will still be factored into the final valuation of BP's stake.
That might be hard for BP shareholders to stomach. BP took up its Rosneft share in 2013, in a $26.7bn cash and shares deal for its 50% stake in TNK-BP.