Oil gushes from a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, in this frame grab of a live video feed released on May 20, 2010.
Oil gushes from a ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, in this frame grab of a live video feed. On Thursday, BP Plc said it was siphoning off more of the oil gushing from the ruptured well. However, the energy giant faced "cover-up" allegations over its struggling response to the catastrophic month-old spill. Reuters

The sale of BP's 60 percent stake in holdings of Argentinean oil producer Pan American Energy LLC, to the Bridas Corp.has failed.

According to reports by Bridas Corp - a joint venture owned by Argentina's Bridas Energy Holdings Lt. and China's Cnooc Ltd - the behaviour of BP officials during the talks, in addition to legal concerns, is to blame for failure in negotiations. The deal was believed to be worth $7.1 billion.

In response, Bob Dudley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), BP have insisted that the stake is not something that they are "desperate to sell".

However, the deal itself, tentatively finalized a year ago, was brought on, according to a Bloomberg report, by BP's need to conserve capital following an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and a $40 billion bill.

"Both the Chinese and the Argentine governments have always been positive about this transaction. Neither the European financial crisis nor any measure taken in Argentina have influenced this decision," said Bridas Corp. in a statement released on Saturday.

Bridas' also denied reports that the decision to withdraw from the deal was related to the company's acquisition of Esso service stations in Argentina, from Exxon Mobil Corp.

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