Shares in BP (LON: BP.) fell on Monday after the US added Igor Sechin, the chief executive of Russia’s Rosneft, in which BP has a near-20% stake, to its latest sanctions list.
Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is the most important energy executive to be targeted by the US sanctions following the Ukraine crisis.
While the sanctions did not name state-controlled Rosneft itself, the shares on the Russian stock exchange fell 2%, dragging BP’s stock down 1.3%.
BP received a 19.75% stake in Rosneft following the sale of its interest in TNK-BP to the Russian group.
Brent crude slipped below US$110 a barrel on Monday, consolidating seven-week highs as more sanctions were imposed on Russia, which is refusing to budge in Ukraine.
It eased 0.7% to US$108.80 a barrel, having lifted to US$110.18 this morning.
Elsewhere there was bid chatter as Premier Oil (LON:PMO) turned down an initial bid to merge with Ophir Energy (LON:OPHR) to create a multi-billion dollar oil group.
Ophir lost 1% of its value, while Premier rose 1.1%.
On the management front, BG (LON:BG.) announced Chris Finlayson has stepped down as chief executive after just 15 months in the hotseat.