TNK-BP Russian partners seek BP offer over Rosneft

MOSCOW (Reuters) - BP's Russian partners in TNK-BP said on Friday they expect "sensible proposals" from the British oil major to resolve the deadlock over BP's deal with Rosneft.

The statement follows legal wrangling over BP's agreement with Rosneft on a $16 billion share swap and Arctic exploration deal, which the Russian shareholders in TNK-BP (the AAR consortium) say have to be exclusively performed by BP via TNK-BP.

"Now it is the time for sensible proposals from BP to resolve the problems that have been created," Stan Polovets, chief executive officer of AAR said in a statement.

On Thursday, BP extended by a month the deadline to complete the share swap with Rosneft hours before its expiry, giving the oil major more time to salvage a deal beset by problems from the start.

"We trust that BP will use the extension it has got from Rosneft to ensure that both the Arctic opportunity and the share swap are pursued through a structure consistent with BP's obligations under the TNK-BP shareholder agreement," Polovets said.

He reiterated that AAR "is a long-term strategic investor in TNK-BP and has no plans to exit."

(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Erica Billingham)