By Oliver Griffin

 

BP PLC (BP.LN) has denied that it acted improperly with regards to the acquisition of its interests in Senegal after the BBC reported that the company is to pay billions for a suspicious gas deal in the country.

On Monday, U.K. broadcaster BBC reported that the British oil-and-gas company will pay around $10 billion in royalties to a company owned by Frank Timis for a stake in a gas field for which BP paid $250 million in 2017.

BBC Panorama and Africa Eye reported that the deal in which Mr. Timis's company secured the blocks was "suspicious." In a statement published on the BBC's website, Mr. Timis responded to the allegations by saying they were entirely false and baseless.

BP said it rejected any implication that it acted improperly. The company said it had conducted extensive and appropriate due diligence, including in the areas of ethics, compliance and anticorruption.

The full broadcast of the investigation, The $10 Billion Energy Scandal, is set to air on June 3 at 1930 GMT.

 

Write to Oliver Griffin at oliver.griffin@dowjones.com; @OliGGriffin

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 03, 2019 10:51 ET (14:51 GMT)

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