Analysts warn BP to incur in first ever loss in Russia

As a result of the drop in the oil price and the depreciation of the Russian currency, the rouble, BP will incur in a sizeable fourth quarter loss on its stake in Russian peer Rosneft.

That is the result of the British oil major’s 19.75% shareholding in Rosneft. In the first nine months of last year BP’s stake in Rosneft accounted for a third of BP's total oil and gas output and over 8% of the underlying replacement cost profits.

Investment bank Tudor Pickering put the size of that fourth quarter loss at $750m. The erosion of export revenues and currency effects would take the Russian energy group’s full-year earnings “to a level which means virtually no 2015 dividend for BP”, the bank’s analysts said, according to the Financial Times.

As of 11:21 shares of BP were down by 2.75% to reach 398.9p.