BP is unlikely to meet a deadline for a share swap with Russia's Rosneft, after failing to remove a key stumbling block by buying out its oligarch partners in TNK-BP, a source close to BP said.
BP has until 2300 GMT to complete a $16 billion share swap with Rosneft as part of a deal that would give the British group an interest in offshore Arctic exploration venture leases that could contain over 40 billion barrels of oil.
With BP's production falling after it sold fields to pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the deal was intended as a signal it can still offer long-term growth. However, the deal has been blocked in the courts by BP's tycoon co-owners of its Russian venture TNK-BP, prompting BP to try and buy them out.
Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR), the consortium which represents the tycoons, rejected BP's first advance of $27-$28 billion for their half share. BP upped its offer to around $30 billion in cash and stock but a deal is still some way off, two sources close to the deal said.
Sources close to BP said there was no longer a dispute over price but that other aspects of the potential buyout were delaying the sale.
