Igor Sechin: “TNK-BP is now a model company on the Russian market.”

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin expressed his support for BP chief Robert Dudley during his trip to the Russian capital in early August 2010. Mr. Dudley was on the trip together with the retiring company CEO Tony Hayward. The two British Petroleum officials met with high-ranking representatives in the Russia oil industry.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Russia considers BP’s intentions to broaden its cooperation with Russia to be a favorable development.

In the words of Mr. Sechin, he is counting on the past experience of joint work between Russia’s oil companies and British Petroleum, as well as on the personal vision of Mr. Dudley, to guide the launch of new oil projects in the country. Mr. Sechin also noted that the involvement of BP in the Russian oil sector is indeed very broad.

The appointment of Robert Dudley as the CEO of British Petroleum is viewed to be beneficial for the company’s Russian ventures, as the BP executive had formerly served as the director of TNK-BP. Russian officials are closely acquainted with Mr. Dudley, whose duties as BP’s CEO will begin on October 1, 2010. According to Tony Hayward, British Petroleum intends to strengthen its operations on the Russian market. The outgoing CEO wanted to reassure the Russian leadership that his company will stay committed to the Russian market. After quitting his post as the CEO, Mr. Hayward will remain on British Petroleum’s board of directors. 

Igor Sechin stated that TNK-BP is now a model company on the Russian market thanks to Mr. Dudley’s work. The Deputy Prime Minister considers BP’s operations to be the best in company discipline and transparency. BP has launched a number of new projects in Russia during Robert Dudley’s tenure. The Uvat oilfields have recently entered production, opening the gates to further opportunities. Mr. Sechin thinks that Russian oil companies and British Petroleum have a good synergy that will lead to the development of new projects. 

At the meeting with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Hayward said that the time required for transferring his affairs to Robert Dudley will not be long. No other BP representatives or officials from Russian petroleum-producing companies attended the meeting that took place in Igor Sechin’s office at Rosneft. 

According to the British Petroleum press service representative Vladimir Buyanov, Dudley and Hayward also held meetings with Sergei Bogdanchikov, who then served as Rosneft’s CEO. No detailed information as to the subjects raised during that discussion were available to the press.

British Petroleum has acquired a 1.4-percent stake in Rosneft at the cost of USD 1 billion when the Russian company did its Initial Public Offering in 2006. British Petroleum is working with Rosneft and other Russian companies on the exploration of the Sakhalin shelf. The company also expressed a desire to pursue a more active involvement on the Arctic shelf.

With ongoing investigations of the Gulf of Mexico disaster in the U.S., today is not the best of times for British Petroleum. The company is looking to dispose of over USD 30 billion in assets to counterbalance its losses from the Deepwater Horizon explosion. British Petroleum has offered to sell its producing assets in Venezuela to TNK-BP. At the same time, the company does not plan to dispose of either its stake in Rosneft or TNK-BP. 

Vladimir Buyanov also reported that Robert Dudley and Tony Hayward met with the Russian partners in the TNK-BP venture. TNK-BP is currently considered to be the third largest oil producer in the country. BP shares the ownership 50-50 with the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) consortium.

Before leaving Russia, the two senior BP officials also met with TNK-BP’s chairman Mikhail Fridman and Maxim Barski, who will take over Mr. Fridman’s role in 2011. During their visit, Mr. Dudley and Mr. Hayward also met with Viktor Vekselberg, who is the co-owner of TNK-BP.