BP Sells Stake in Rosneft over Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Posted on 02/27/2022
Oil giant BP plc (formerly known as British Petroleum) said it dump its stake in Russian energy company Rosneft. BP held a 19.75% stake in Rosneft since 2013. BP said its chief executive, Bernard Looney, will resign from the Russian firm’s board, effective immediately. Bob Dudley, a former BP executive, will also resign from Rosneft’s board. BP explicitly cited the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine as the reason for the severance.
“I am convinced that the decisions we have taken as a board are not only the right thing to do, but are also in the long-term interests of bp,” Bernard Looney said in a statement. “Our immediate priority is caring for our great people in the region and we will do our utmost to support them.”
In terms of foreign investors, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) holds a sizeable stake in Rosneft.
Royal Dutch Shell plc has a 27.5% stake in Gazprom’s Sakhalin-2 offshore gas project. Total SA is a major shareholder in in gas producer Novatek, alongside U.S./U.K. sanctioned oligarch Gennady Timchenko. Exxon Mobil Corporation has stakes in Russia. Exxon Neftegas Limited, an ExxonMobil subsidiary has operated the Sakhalin-1 Project under the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) on behalf of Sakhalin-1 Consortium since 1995; ExxonMobil has 30% interest in the project. Engie, OMV, Uniper, Royal Dutch Shell plc, and Wintershall DEA are financial investors in Nordstream 2. Oil traders Vitol and Trafigura are pouring billions into Rosneft’s flagship new project Vostok.