BP: Russia wants foreign investment

Russia remains a favourable environment for foreign investment, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said on Wednesday, despite his group's recently collapsed deal with Russian state oil giant Rosneft. "There is a mood and a recognition in (the) Russian leadership ... to develop partnerships" with foreign companies, Dudley told the World National Oil Companies Congress, an annual industry conference held in London. "They do want investments and partnerships. They proposed the partnership with Rosneft. It hasn't worked out -- but the attempt (was) there. "Russia is here, producing more oil than Saudi Arabia," the BP boss noted. BP and Rosneft signed a historic Arctic exploration and share-swap deal in January as Dudley sought to move the company on from the disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster. However, the deal collapsed in May over protests by BP's Russian partners in its local joint venture and the subsequent failure of efforts to buy out the unhappy shareholders. Dudley said Wednesday that the London-listed group also hopes to rapidly expand its natural gas assets in Oman. "Today we have three wells (in Oman). The plan is to have 300 -- it would be one of the largest projects in our portfolio. "We'll see if the wells in Oman maintain high output. We will take a decision next year on the project, to decide to push it (to) the next level. We are very enthusiastic."