BP's pledge to sell off billions of dollars of assets to cover compensation for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has been dealt a blow after a major deal in Argentina was scrapped.
Bridas Corporation withdrew its seven billion US dollar (£4.3 billion) bid for BP's 60% interest in Argentina-based oil and gas firm Pan American Energy (PAE) after failing to secure relevant regulatory approvals within an agreed timeframe.
BP said it will now repay the 3.53 billion US dollar (£2.2 billion) deposit put down by Bridas and retain "long-term ownership" of PAE's assets.
The energy giant last month announced plans to extend its asset sale programme - announced in the wake of the fatal Deepwater Horizon accident in April last year - to 45 billion US dollars (£28 billion).
The collapse of the Bridas-PAE deal - which will pile further pressure on boss Bob Dudley - will push BP's current asset sales total to 19 billion US dollars (£11.8 billion), less than half that target.