The current and future heads of British oil major BP Plc met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, a BP spokesman said, amid a new wave of speculation about the future of BP's Russian joint venture, Reuters reported.
BP's chief executive John Browne will meet Putin at the Kremlin and introduce him to his successor, Tony Hayward, BP spokesman Vladimir Buyanov said on Wednesday.
Buyanov declined to disclose the agenda for the meeting, but market attention is likely to focus on the future of TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and a group of Russian billionaires.
Russian and international media have speculated for months that the Russian shareholders were under pressure to sell out to a state-controlled firm, like Gazprom or Rosneft, to help the Kremlin strengthen its grip over the strategic energy sector.
Gazprom has said it could buy into TNK-BP if a proposal was made, while TNK-BP, BP and the Russian shareholders have repeatedly denied they wanted to sell out.
"I feel it necessary to explain again that all speculation about a possible change of TNK-BP's shareholding structure is not true," TNK-BP's chief executive Robert Dudley said in a statement on Tuesday.
TNK-BP has come under pressure from Russian authorities over its giant Kovykta gas field for failing to produce the agreed volumes of gas.
Russia threatened to revoke the Kovykta licence in May, and industry analysts have said the move may be part of an attempt by the Kremlin to force the Russians out of the venture.
Dudley said TNK-BP's possible partnership on Kovykta with Gazprom was not linked to the future of TNK-BP itself.
(Reuters, 21/03/2007)