LONDON (Standard&Poor's) Oct. 22, 2012--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings and outlook on BP PLC (A/Positive/A-1) are unchanged following the announcement that BP has agreed heads of terms to sell its 50% shareholding in TNK-BP to state controlled Russian Oil Company Rosneft OJSC (BBB-/Watch Neg/--) for $17.1 billion in cash and a 12.84% stake in Rosneft. The transaction remains conditional upon governmental, regulatory, and anti-trust approvals. Although the transaction may result in lower recurring cash flow generation for BP from Russia over the medium term, it provides a $12.3 billion upfront cash payment (net of a $4.8 billion acquisition of additional Rosneft shares by BP) and may reduce uncertainty over future cash generation from
