Breakingviews – BP’s bruising Russian exit almost worth the pain – Reuters

Breakingviews – BP’s bruising Russian exit almost worth the pain – Reuters

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bernard Looney is removing an increasingly awkward appendage. In a seismic move, the BP chief executive said on Sunday the UK oil giant would exit its 19.75% stake in Rosneft (ROSN.MM), the state-controlled Russian energy major read more . In financial terms the timing couldn’t be worse. But Looney may still get something of a consolation.

BP’s relationship with Rosneft has been a mixed blessing ever since the British company’s TNK-BP joint venture unravelled in 2013, leaving the British company with a $12 billion pile of cash and its equity stake. Owning a fifth of one of the world’s largest oil companies allowed BP to last year add 1.1 million barrels of crude oil a day to its output of 2.2 million and $2.7 billion of profit before interest and tax. Yet Rosneft’s proximity to the government made some investors increasingly edgy. President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine made BP’s position untenable.