Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – The Russian-British oil venture TNK-BP has confirmed that it is in negotiations with British oil giant BP on the acquisition of BP's Venezuela-based assets, a TNK-BP spokesman said on Thursday.

TNK-BP upholds BP's decision to carry out a strategic reorganization of BP's assets in Venezuela and is looking forward to finding any opportunity to join the projects, the firm said.

"TNK-BP thinks the reorganization of BP's assets is in the interests of both companies and will promote a further development of Venezuela's oil industry," the company added.

British Petroleum is currently selling $30 billion worth of assets to offset the costs of clearing up a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The companies are negotiating the sale of BP's minority stakes in two exploration and production joint ventures with Petroleos de Venezuela, Venezuela's state-owned oil producer, Reuters news agency said.

"TNK-BP thinks it is a good opportunity for a further development of its international asset portfolio and expanding its business activity in Venezuela," the company said, adding that Russia had already invested in Venezuela's economy as a participant of the National Oil Consortium, which develops and produces oil jointly with the state-owned companies, PDVSA, Petroleos de Venezuela and Sociedad Anonima.