Oligarchs' injunction against BP/Rosneft deal upheld

24th Mar 2011 18:41

BP's Arctic exploration deal with Russian state oil giant Rosneft has gone on hold again after an injunction issued to AAR, the UK firm's Russian partners in its TNK-BP joint venture, was renewed by an independent arbitrator."We won," an AAR spokesman told reporters.BP said it was "disappointed that these agreements, which are important for Russia, for Rosneft and for BP, cannot for now go ahead in the form intended, due to legal challenge by AAR. BP intends to continue to honour the TNK-BP shareholders' agreement to which it is a party with AAR, and will respect the decision of the arbitrators."The arbitration panel was called in after AAR won a temporary injunction against the deal, under which BP and Rosneft would explore for oil in the Arctic offshore and undertake a $16bn share swap.BP added it "looks forward to finding a way to resolve its differences with its Russian partners to allow these important Russian Arctic developments to proceed in future."The Russian oligarchs who own Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), which has a 50% stake in TNK-BP, are furious the UK firm got into bed with Rosneft without consulting it first. They claim the deal violates an agreement with BP that includes a clause giving them the right to be part of any exploration on Russian soil.