BP to offload its 19.75 per cent share in Russian oil giant

BP announces it will offload its stakes in Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft

In a statement released today, Sunday, February 27, BP has announced that following the invasion of Ukraine, it will offload its current 19.75 per cent stake in Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil giant with “immediate effect”.

BP’s stake is believed to be worth around $14bn (€12.3bn), and it is known that they had been under pressure from the British government to sever their links with the Russian company.

Bernard Looney, BP’s chief executive, will also resign from the board of directors of Rosneft, as will Bob Dudley, another director. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “caused us to fundamentally rethink BP’s position with Rosneft”, their statement said.

“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an act of aggression which is having tragic consequences across the region. BP has operated in Russia for over 30 years, working with brilliant Russian colleagues. However, this military action represents a fundamental change”, stated BP’s Norweigian chairman, Helge Lund.

Mr Lund continued, “It has led the BP board to conclude, after a thorough process, that our involvement with Rosneft, a state-owned enterprise, simply cannot continue. We can no longer support BP representatives holding a role on the Rosneft board”.

“The Rosneft holding is no longer aligned with BP’s business and strategy and it is now the board’s decision to exit BP’s shareholding in Rosneft. The BP board believes these decisions are in the best long-term interests of all our shareholders”, he concluded.

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