OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2009. TNK-BP International is reportedly interested in operations in Iraq, domestic media wired, reported the press-centre of OTKRITIE FC.

View: At present, TNK-BP has no projects in Iraq. Moreover, the company has not been included in the list of contenders for licenses in the country. In our view, TNK-BP’s statement reflects the strengthening of Russian shareholders in the company who believe that TNK-BP should enter profitable upstream projects outside Russia. Thus, we do not rule out that the company’s strategy in the next years could be aimed at expansion outside of the Russian Federation.

Valuation: TNK-BP Holding’s stock trades at a 23% discount on P/E to the rest of the energy sector.

Action: We read this news as neutral for TNK-BP Holding since the holding operates only in Russia. Currently we have no target price or recommendation for this stock.