Rosneft blocked deal bad news for BP’s Dudley

BP boss’ Bob Dudley has been criticised by some oil industry analysts for entering into an Arctic exploration deal with state-controlled Russian energy group Rosneft after it was blocked by the BP’s partners in another joint venture.

Russian investors in TNK-BP got an arbitration panel ruling that prevents BP and Rosneft from jointly exploring for oil in the country’s Arctic region.

Rosneft will now need to look elsewhere for the expertise it requires for the difficult job of getting crude oil out of the Arctic.

Royal Dutch Shell, BP’s arch rival, is just one of the foreign companies that is interested in taking on that role.

Analysts said the ruling was a major victory for BP’s billionaire partners in TNK-BP and a huge embarrassment for the British oil company, particularly as Bob Dudley used to run TNK-BP before being forced to leave Russia in 2008 when that joint venture soured.

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