On May 7, 2003, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'AA+' long-term corporate credit ratings on U.K.-based oil major BP PLC (BP) and related entities, and removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where they had been placed on Feb. 11, 2003. The affirmation is based on Standard&Poor's view that a plan by BP and the majority shareholders in TNK International Ltd. (TNK)--Alfa Group and Access-Renova (AAR)--to combine their oil interests in Russia will not undermine BP's conservative financial profile. The outlook on BP is stable. At the same time, the 'A-1+' short-term ratings on the BP group, which were not on CreditWatch, were affirmed. BP had net financial debt of $17.7 billion as of March 31, 2003. The
