BP offloads stake in Russia’s Rosneft
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In the polished company plates of Rosneft, Russia’s oil giant state-controlled, at the Moscow headquarters entrance, you can see the Kremlin.
Getty Images| AFP | Getty Images
British energy giant BP announcedIt was selling its 19.75% share in Rosneft (a Russian-controlled oil and gas company) on Sunday.
Ex-executive Bob Dudley, BP’s CEO and Bernard Looney are both resigning immediately from Rosnefts board. Looney was a Rosneft director since 2020. He is one of the two BP-nominated directors. According to the company, Dudley was a director from 2013 onwards.
BP was a Russian company for 30+ years. However, the Russian invasion in Ukraine caused the company’s reevaluate of its Russian holdings.
Helge Lund, BP chair, stated in a statement that “this military action represents a fundamental shift.” After a careful process, the BP board concluded that involvement with Rosneft (a state-owned company) simply could not continue.
BP faced increasing pressure from the British government, to sell its share in the company. The Wall Street JournalReport last week. According to the newspaper, British officials accused Rosneft in facilitating the Kremlin’s incursion into Ukraine.
Rosneft was responsible for about a third BP’s oil and gas production according to The Journal.
BP announced that the offloading of its stake has resulted in a material cash charge. It will be reported with its first-quarter 2022 results by May.
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