CORRECT: TNK-BP Hopes To Close Brazil Buy Within Month, Eyes Other Assets

BP PLC's (BP) Russian joint venture TNK-BP Ltd. (TNBP.RS) hopes to close a deal to buy a 45% stake in an oil and gas deposit in Brazil's Solimoes region from Petra Energia SA within one month, the company's Deputy Chief Executive Maxim Barsky said Friday.

"We have already agreed on this deal. Now we await approval from the board," Barsky said.

If the deal goes through, TNK-BP will partner with Brazil's HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTP3.BR)--the operator and owner of 55% of the Solimoes blocks.

A person familiar with the situation said last month that TNK-BP may pay as much as $1 billion for the 45% stake.

The Solimoes blocks cover an area of 48,500 square kilometers. According to U.S.-based petroleum consulting company DeGolyer and MacNaughton, HRT's stake holds 542 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which 84% is natural gas.

The company may also increase its stake in Venezuela's Petromonagas to 40% from the current 17%, Barsky said.

Venezuelan state energy company PDVSA has invited TNK-BP to increase its stake in Petromonagas to 40%, Barsky said.

TNK-BP closed a deal this week to buy three Venezuelan assets from BP. The deal included a 17% stake in Petromonagas, a 40% stake in Petroperija SA and a 26.7% stake in Boqueron SA.

Barsky also confirmed his company is interested in a 53% stake in Poland's second-largest refiner Grupa Lotos SA (LTS.WA), currently put on sale by the country's government which holds the stake.

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires, [phone]; [e-mail]