Exxon snatches Rosneft deal from BP

ExxonMobil has formed an Arctic exploration partnership with Russian state oil company Rosneft, in a strategic coup over rival BP.

In return, Exxon, the world’s largest oil company by market capitalisation, will give the state-controlled Russian group minority stakes in projects in the US Gulf of Mexico, in onshore fields in Texas and elsewhere, the FT reports. The $3.2bn agreement follows this year’s collapse of an Arctic exploration deal between Rosneft and BP. The two companies’ tie-up was blocked by the oligarch partners in BP’s existing Russian joint venture, TNK-BP. The new deal underscores international oil companies’ determination to explore and develop untapped oil reserves in the Russian Arctic, and Rus...