BP has lost in a bidding war against ExxonMobile for the access to the Arctic Laptev Sea Fields where Russian state oil firm Rosneft has prospective reserves amounting to 36 billion oil barrels.
ExxonMobile was preferred by Rosneft for the Laptev fields despite the fact that BP is set to become a significant shareholder of the Russian firm in April.
BP made its first attempt to make a deal with Rosneft for drilling oil in the Russia's Arctic. However, the deal was offered to ExxonMobile as BP was barred by tycoons saying that it was in breach of the agreement of TNK-BP, a joint venture it formed in Russia in 2003.
BP is set to become a shareholder in Rosneft with 20% shares following its agreement to sell TNK-BP to the Russian oil company for $55 billion in cash and share deal.
BP and Rosneft were not available to comment on the matter.
Join the Conversation