Russian Court Dismisses $3B Case Against BP

MOSCOW – A Russian court Thursday dismissed a $3 billion damages ruling against BP PLC and closed the case, a court official said, ending months of legal strife for the U.K. company as it finalizes a deal to sell out of its joint venture in the country and take a stake in oil giant OAO Rosneft.

An arbitration court in the Siberian town of Omsk dismissed another court's ruling from last year ordering BP to pay just over 100 billion Russian rubles ($3.1 billion) in damages to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP. That court had ruled in July that BP caused damage to TNK-BP and the interests of its minority shareholders when it sought an alliance last year with Rosneft in the Arctic exploration deal without involving TNK-BP.

The Omsk court, which was hearing BP's appeal, dismissed the case Thursday after the minority investors filed to withdraw the suit.

BP and its partners are selling TNK-BP to Rosneft in deals worth $55 billion after years of disagreements. BP will hold a 19.8% stake in Rosneft as part of its move to sell out of TNK-BP. The deals are expected to close in the first half of 2013.

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