BP hangs on Saville share swap
decision

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated: 19:37 EST, 5 April 2011

BP is today awaiting the verdict of a tribunal headed by Lord Saville – the man who led the Bloody Sunday inquiry – on whether it can swap shares with Russian oil giant Rosneft.

The oil major and AAR – the Russian billionaires who own half of joint venture TNK-BP – submitted final evidence to the arbitration panel yesterday.

And the Daily Mail can reveal that the lead panel judge is Lord Saville, whose probe into the Bloody Sunday massacre of innocent civilians in Northern Ireland lasted 12 years and cost more than £400m.

BP'S Bob Dudley with the Rosneft president in January

The panel has already said that BP (up 5.6p to 475p) cannot explore the Arctic continental shelf with Rosneft but this latest ruling will depend on whether a share swap is deemed a ‘strategic’ manoeuvre.

TNK-BP has argued that its joint venture agreement requires BP to give it first refusal on any strategic venture in the former Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti official said BP was among the contenders to join its £5.5bn deal with China’s  Sinopec to refine oil in the People’s Republic.