Ruhr Oel GmbH is a company held jointly by BP Europa SE and the Venezuelan oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA).

The deal would be a boon for BP, the embattled U.K. oil major that has a right of first refusal on PdVSA’s stake.  In return for waiving their right BP has been offered a lucrative deal by Rosneft to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

Former BP CEO Tony Hayward who remains a director of BP until November and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is Chairman of Rosneft, have a warm relationship and may have discussed this deal during Hayward's August visit to Russia to introduce his successor Bob Dudley.

The deal would be the first acquisition of refineries outside Russia by Rosneft. The four refineries have a combined throughput of 27.5 million tonnes a year.

The price quoted by both business newspapers is from $1 billion up to $2 billion.

An agreement giving BP Arctic drilling rights would be a big vote of confidence in the British company, whose reputation has been battered by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.