According to sources, British Petroleum, who lost its first deal to drill oil in Arctic Russia to rival ExxonMobil again was beaten out by the same rival when it tried to negotiate a deal with Russian oil giant Rosneft. The second deal was for the Arctic Laptev Sea fields where Rosneft projects reserves totaling 36 billion barrels.

While BP may have lost this round, there are other blocks under discussion with Rosneft for exploration. Lost bids have become the norm with BP in its business prospects in Russia, where it operates under a joint venture with four Soviet born billionaires. The venture is now being offered to Rosneft.

The venture has been deadlocked between the UK based company and the Russian tycoons. Earlier, the Russian tycoons blocked an attempt by BP to form a deal with Rosneft to explore the Arctic oil fields. The tycoons claimed that the negotiations BP undertook with Rosneft were in violation of its joint venture deal. This first failed deal was soon followed by another as Rosneft began preferring ExxonMobil over BP, even if BP would have two directors on the Rosneft board due to its significant holdings.