BP Deal Regains Reserves Lost in Post-Spill Sales at Half Price

BP Plc’s $7.8 billion share swap with OAO Rosneft will replace almost all the reserves it sold to pay for the Gulf of Mexico spill at less than half price.

Rosneft’s market value prices its oil and gas reserves at $5.33 a barrel, the fourth-lowest among the world’s biggest oil producers, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s 60 percent below the $13.20 average price BP got for fields sold last year holding 1.7 billion barrels, according to bank DnB NOR ASA. After the deal, BP’s 10.8 percent Rosneft holding will represent about 1.6 billion barrels of proved reserves.