A BP PLC (BP) spokesman said Friday the company is in talks to sell its stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to Russian oil company Lukoil Holdings (LKOH.RS) or state-owned Kazakh energy company KazMunaiGas.
Talks are ongoing and it is not possible to say when a conclusion may be reached, the Moscow-based spokesman said.
BP won't oppose a decision to expand the capacity of the pipeline at a meeting in December if it receives guarantees from other members in the consortium that it will have the right to sell its stake, he added.
CPC shareholders, which include the Kazakh and Russian governments, and several Russian and Western oil majors, have agreed in principle on increasing the pipeline's capacity by 1.34 million barrels a day. BP has so far refused to agree to the plan, saying it offers the company no benefit.