RusEnergy

09.06.2007 [Neftegaz.ru] - Tony Hayward, the BP chief executive, will pledge the group’s commitment to Russia today in an attempt to defuse tensions over the $20 billion Kovykta gas project, The Times reported. Mr Hayward wants to use this weekend’s Economic Forum in St Petersburg, where he is making only his second significant public appearance since taking over last month, to emphasise the success that BP has enjoyed in Russia since forming a joint venture with TNK four years ago. While formal talks with Vladimir Putin are not on the agenda, the BP chief executive is one of several business leaders who will meet the Russian President tonight after appearing at an energy round table with Jeroen van der Veer, his counterpart at Shell. Mr Hayward’s comments will come despite a growing resignation within BP to the fact that its Russian business looks set to be muscled out of Kovykta, one of its biggest prospects in the country.