BP to Go Ahead on TNK-BP Sale

BP will go ahead with the sale of a 50 per cent stake TNK-BP despite rumours that Alfa Access Renova (AAR) would seek to veto any such deal, Reuters has reported.

Commenting on the potential deal, an unnamed source remained defiant on the decision to consider the sale, following unsolicited interest from buyers into BP's half of the Russian oil and gas venture.

"We can sell it if we want to," Reuters news agency reports the source as saying.

The Financial Times reported yesterday that the four oligarchs involved in AAR would seek to stop any such sale by BP if it was brought to market. However, if the sale goes ahead, the AAR consortium may consider a buyout of the BP's stake.

"We made an offer about a month ago," the Guardian newspaper reports chief executive of AAR Stan Polovets as saying. "It was a cash bid."

A number of other companies are reported to be interested in acquiring BP's stake, with Russian Rosneft reported to be ahead of the pack. Other companies reported to be interested in the stake are Russian Gazprom and China's CNOOC and Sinopec.

However, chairman of TNK-BP Igor Sechin said that the news of the potential was an unexpected development, one which the venture would need to take time to consider.

"We never thought about it," he said. "This is a new situation that is just now developing."