BP's oil spill sale passes $10bn

BP's sell-off to pay for the Gulf of Mexico spill passed $10 billion (£6.3 billion) today as it sold assets in Vietnam and Venezuela to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP.

The oil giant is aiming to sell $30 billion in non-core businesses by the end of next year to pay for the clean-up, and the latest $1.8 billion sale takes total disposals to $10.7 billion so far.

BP took a $32.2 billion hit for the crisis in July and has axed its dividend.

TNK-BP — which aims to expand outside Russia — fought off interest from several other interested parties, a BP spokesman said.

BP will retain an interest in the assets through its stake in TNK-BP.

The assets include stakes in several joint ventures in Venezuela as well as offshore interests and a pipeline project in Vietnam.