World
BP backs deal to swap TNK-BP for Rosneft stake
Posted: Oct 21, 2012 10:11 AM
Updated: Oct 21, 2012 10:14 AM
LONDON (AP) A person familiar with the matter says that the board of U.K. energy company BP PLC has struck a deal to swap its profitable but troublesome Russian oil venture TNK-BP for a big stake in Rosneft, the Kremlin-controlled energy company.
The person said that the sale of BP's half of TNK-BP would net the company between $10 billion to $15 billion in cash as well as a 15 to 20 percent stake in Rosneft, Russia's largest producer of oil.
He said the ranges were approximate because the parameters of the deal were still being worked out. He spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement which he said the companies hoped to make "soon."
A tie-up between BP and Rosneft has been long-anticipated.
