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OIL: Goldman downgrades 2013 forecasts, investors eye BP’s Russian sale

Last updated: 11:34 18 Oct 2012 EDT, First published: 15:34 18 Oct 2012 EDT

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Investors this afternoon await official confirmation that BP(LON:BP.), London’s premier oil firm, had struck a deal to sell its half of the TNK-BP venture for US$28 billion.

The offer from Rosneft has been widely reported today, and it follows previous reports that the state-backed Russian oil firm had agreed a separate deal, also worth US$28 billion, with the oligarchs that own the other half of the venture.

It is reported that BP will receive a combination of cash and shares, thus leaving it with an indirect interest in the Russian assets which account for almost a third of its current production and reserves.

Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin flew into London yesterday and, according to the FT, he is set for meetings with financiers tomorrow to gain funding for the transaction, and BP executives will mull over the offer on Friday.

Elsewhere, crude oil prices weakened with Brent futures dipping below US$113 a barrel while US light sweet crude was slipped past the US$92 marker.

This comes despite news of an 8.3% increase in China’s implied oil demand to 9.75 million barrels per day. 

Instead, the focus was on the United States. According to Goldman Sachs, which downgraded its crude forecasts for next year, the market will see stable long term prices thanks to growth in non-conventional oil supplies in North America.

Yesterday the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a larger than expected increase, by almost 3 million barrels, in America’s oil stockpiles in the past week.

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