BP and Gazprom last year agreed to contribute assets worth about $3 billion to a joint venture. TNK-BP planned to sell its stake in the Kovykta gas field to Gazprom, while BP had an option to buy back a quarter of the deposit. Talks stalled while BP was locked in a power struggle with its partners in TNK-BP.
"Gazprom said two months ago that they were going to stop talks until" the dispute was settled, BP spokesman Toby Odone said. So far, the next round of talks has not been scheduled, he said.
The joint venture "idea hasn't died," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. "But so far we have not advanced" talks.
Neither BP nor Gazprom has set deadlines for the creation of the joint venture, Odone and Kupriyanov said.
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