BP and Rosneft, the largest Russian oil company, reached an 11th-hour agreement to extend for a month the deadline to complete a US$16 billion (Dh58.76bn) share swap yesterday.
The accord came as BP faced disgruntled shareholders at its annual meeting in London.
The share swap is considered pivotal to a landmark Arctic exploration deal between the two companies. The proposed Russian offshore oil and gas venture, announced in January, was supposed to reposition BP for growth after it was forced to sell billions of dollars of assets to pay for its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.
With Wednesday's anniversary of the fatal accident fast approaching, BP's deal with the state-owned Rosneft was hanging by a thread yesterday as a group of Russian billionaires sought to block it in court. The oligarchs, BP's partners in its existing Russian affiliate TNK-BP, had obtained an interim injunction delaying the share swap, after arguing the proposed tie-up would violate their shareholder agreement with BP.
"In Russia, TNK-BP is our primary investment vehicle in the country, and we are absolutely committed to it. It has been hugely successful," Bob Dudley, BP's chief executive, said yesterday, addressing the shareholder meeting. "However, we are also pursuing a project with Rosneft to gain access to Arctic resources … BP needs to be there."
Nevertheless, Mr Dudley later indicated there was no guarantee of the deal being consummated.
"We have to be realistic. We are in the middle of a process involving three parties, and exactly what will unfold I don't think we can speculate yet," he said, responding to a question put by Paul Arden Jones, a BP shareholder.
Carl-Henric Svanberg, the BP chairman, said the company had offered TNK rights to oil exploration in the Russian Arctic when the joint venture was formed in 2003, but the oligarchs concluded it was not in their financial interest to participate in projects with long lead-times.
"We have continued to get assurances that that was the case," Mr Svanberg said. "I actually don't think there was a possibility to bring [the TNK shareholder] on side more than we had" before announcing the Rosneft deal, he added. "This is an emerging market, it's a new nation … it is a rocky terrain. We are hopeful we will get our way there."
Mr Dudley said BP's proposed alliance with Rosneft would be good for both companies' shareholders without harming the operations of TNK-BP, which he said was "not an offshore company".
"But we will not pay large amounts" to TNK-BP to ensure the Rosneft deal, he added.
"We will continue to do business in Russia," he said, adding BP's relationship with TNK-BP was "bumpy but not dysfunctional".
"With TNK-BP, it's not personal; it's just business."
During his speech, Mr Dudley said the challenging environmental issues oil producers faced as they exploited resources in harsher and more remote locations was "a wake-up call". "We are looking at trends in the industry and looking at how we can use our skills to satisfy the world's demand for energy," he said. "The world will still need oil, and much of the new supply will have to come from new sources."
Mr Dudley said BP would double investment over the next few years, continuing to explore in established locations including the Gulf of Mexico, and also in new areas. "Much of the exploration will be in deep water," he said.
BP remained committed to paying all legitimate claims for environmental and economic damage caused by last year's oil spill. It would also seek to ensure a similar response from other firms implicated in the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which claimed 11 lives and allowed millions of barrels of oil to leak from the Macondo exploration well, the company's top two executives said.
The company's share price is still more than 25 per cent below its level before the spill.
tcarlisle@thenational.ae
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
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Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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THE SPECS
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
