BP Plc (BP: Quote,BP_UN.TO: Quote,BP.L) said Friday it intends to sell its shareholding in Russian joint venture TNK-BP Ltd., as it has received "unsolicited indications" from interested parties.
The British oil giant has notified joint venture partner Alfa Access Renova of its intention.
TNK-BP, the third largest oil company in Russia, is a 50:50 joint venture formed by BP and Alfa-Access-Renova - a consortium consisting of a group of Russian billionaires. The JV was formed in 2003 by merging Russian oil and gas assets of BP and Alfa Access Renova.
The relationship between the two partners soured last year after a deal between Russia's state-owned oil company OAO Rosneft and BP to jointly develop Russia's Arctic shelf collapsed following a legal challenge from Alfa Access Renova.
On Monday, TNK-BP announced the resignation of Mikhail Fridman as chief executive officer of the company, signaling the broadening rift between BP and the joint venture partner. Fridman is one of the consortium's billionaires.
BP said its decision to sell the stake in TNK-BP is consistent with its commitment to maximizing shareholder value as well as its obligations under Shareholder Agreement.
In early May, BP had revealed its plan to sell some assets in the Gulf of Mexico after it reported a decline in profit for the first quarter amid lower output due to sold assets. The British oil giant is still struggling to overcome the 2010 oil well disaster, causing the worst oil spill in history.
BP.L is currently trading at 410.25 pence, up 15.35 pence or 3.89 percent, on a volume of 20.21 million shares on the LSE.
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by RTT Staff Writer
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