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Russia thinks BP deal is dead
Russia’s energy minister does not expect BP and Rosneft to revive their historic exploration deal. Sergei Shmatko told reporters yesterday: “I don’t believe there’s any chance of reincarnation of the deal in its current form,” adding that the two oil companies were continuing talks over a new agreement to search for oil in the Arctic. Talks between the firms broke down earlier this month after a deadline passed without any deal to include BP’s Russian venture TNK-BP in the project. AAR, a group of Soviet-born billionaires who part-own TNK-BP, won a legal battle to stall the Rosneft alliance in January.