BP seals deal with Russian partners

BP’s Russian billionaire partners in an Arctic exploration project have settled their immediate differences with the UK oil group.

They had applied to a High Court judge for an injunction to stop a share swap deal between BP and the Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft.

But they reached agreement without having to argue their case before Mr Justice Burton, who later confirmed there would be no share swap before February 25.

The parties, BP and Alfa Petroleum, also agreed to go to arbitration over their differences at a hearing in Sweden by February 14.

BP would take an additional 9.5% stake in Rosneft, while the Russian company would take a 5% stake in BP under the disputed deal.

The plan is for a joint venture to explore the Russian Arctic continental shelf in an area of the South Kara Sea covering about 48,263 square miles – one of the world’s last remaining unexplored basins.