* More finger-pointing over BP-Rosneft deal
* No agreement on TNK-BP approaching Rosneft on joining deal
* Rosneft sees BP as its "strategic" partner
By Vladimir Soldatkin
MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - Anglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP failed again at the weekend to settle a dispute over an alliance between partner BP and Rosneft, sparking new recriminations between its shareholders.
A board meeting held in Paris ended on Saturday with BP and Russian-led management deadlocked over how -- and indeed whether -- to involve TNK-BP in a pact struck in January by BP and Rosneft to explore the Arctic offshore.
The partnership, which includes a $16 billion share swap, marks a watershed in the development of Russia's oil sector, with the Kremlin softening its doctrine of resource nationalism and opening the door to global energy majors.
State-controlled Rosneft, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, has described as "strategic" its alliance with BP and sees no place for TNK-BP, Russia's No.3 oil firm, in the deal due to its lack of deepwater expertise.
TNK-BP's shareholder managers, led by tycoon Mikhail Fridman and represented by the AAR consortium, counter that the Rosneft-BP alliance violates TNK-BP's shareholder agreement and poses an existential threat to the company's business.
"Having BP, which is a 50 percent shareholder in TNK-BP, become the largest private shareholder in one of TNK-BP's main competitors would inevitably lead to conflicts of interest and new tensions," Stan Polovets, CEO of AAR, said on Sunday.
AAR has won a London court injunction to keep the deal on hold pending an arbitration review, which TNK-BP said could be completed within weeks.
Fridman and his partners, Viktor Vekselberg and German Khan, have proposed that TNK-BP supplants BP in the share swap, paying $7.6 billion to buy 5 percent of BP which would be then exchanged for a 10 percent stake in Rosneft.
FALLOUT
The fallout from Saturday's board meeting centred on whether any talks on bringing TNK-BP into the Rosneft partnership would indeed involve involving it in the share swap.
"A proposal by BP's nominated directors which would have allowed TNK-BP to hold initial discussions with Rosneft about pursuing the Arctic opportunity, was rejected by Alfa, Access and Renova (AAR)," BP said in a statement.
TNK-BP management fired back Sunday that BP's comments were "misleading and inaccurate", adding that the BP proposal had ruled out involving TNK-BP in the share swap.
Analysts note that, while the letter of the shareholder agreement forces BP to engage in at least a formal dialogue with TNK-BP management over the Rosneft deal, the power relations in Russia are likely to trump the UK court system.
Sechin made his views clear in that respect on Friday: "The issues of mineral resources usage fall into the Russian government's remit. This is not a matter for the London courts," he told Interfax news agency.
TNK-BP's board comprises four BP nominees, four from the AAR consortium and three independents -- Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Russian industry lobby head Alexander Shokhin and former Corus chief executive James Leng.
The BP nominees rejected TNK-BP's management offer to fully replace BP in the deal with Rosneft, while saying TNK-BP can only start talks on the possibility of joining the Arctic deal.
TNK-BP, which accounts for around 10 percent of BP's profit, said the AAR-nominated directors and three independent directors voted in favor of management's proposal.
Saturday's meeting ended in stalemate as unanimous agreement was required for either motion to be approved. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Douglas Busvine and Louise Heavens)