BP weighs selling Rosneft stake back to Russian explorer
BP Plc may seek to sell its roughly 20% stake in Rosneft PJSC back to the state-controlled Russian explorer at a huge discount, according to Bloomberg.
London-listed BP considers a deal with Rosneft as the most realistic transaction because it would struggle to sell down on the market or find another buyer for the stake, given the sanctions on Russia. BP has already warned it could take a hit of as much as $25 billion as a result of quitting Russia, where it’s been active for three decades.
BP didn’t have direct stakes in any of Rosneft’s fields nor physical access to the hydrocarbons they produced. The principal financial benefit of the stake came from a dividend, which last year was $640 million and in 2020 was zero. BP’s total operational cash flow in 2021 was $23.6 billion.
On Monday, Shell Plc said it will end partnerships with state-controlled Gazprom PJSC, including the Sakhalin-II liquefied natural gas facility, and its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project. Both projects are worth about $3 billion.
