Offshore staff
MOSCOW -- OJSC Rosneft Oil Co. has commented on speculation concerning agreements it signed with BP for strategic cooperation in the Russian Arctic.
In February, following a demand referring to the shareholders’ agreement between BP and TNK, the High Court of Justice in London issued an injunction halting completion of these deals.The ensuing legal processes between AAR and BP are reviewing the legality of BP’s entry into the agreements with Rosneft.
Rosneft says its position in this dispute is one of non-interference, and it hopes that the conflict will be resolved quickly and without damage to its interests. But in response to rumors that is considering a possible change of partner, Rosneft has issued the following statement:
“The signed agreements on cooperation are strategic in character and directed at the multilateral development of an alliance with BP in the area of offshore upstream projects in Russia.”
The company says it has cooperated with BP successfully for more than a decade on the Sakhalin shelf off eastern Russia. Also, TNK-BP’s shareholders agreed that BP’s participation in the Sakhalin-4 and Sakhalin-5 projects with Rosneft would be excluded from the TNK-BP shareholders’ agreement on joint projects in the Russian Federation.
In choosing a strategic partner, Rosneft says it took into account BP’s 40 years of experience in offshore exploration and deepwater projects in 12 countries around the world, as well as the company’s resources and ability to execute capital intensive and high-technology projects.
Rosneft stresses that it never considered TNK-BP as a possible participant in the alliance due to its lack of relevant competence, and TNK-BP never made any proposals to Rosneft expressing its interest in working on the shelf. Further, it will closely examine any activities aimed at disrupting the deal that may cause damage to Rosneft.
In this case, Rosneft would undertake all measures to defend the rights of its shareholders, with all the resulting consequences.
03/16/2011
