TNK-BP has always insisted that its joint venture contract gives it first refusal on any new Russian venture, and last month won an injunction blocking the Rosneft partnership, pending arbitration.
And well-placed sources said BP is finally ready to offer its partner a way into the landmark deal to explore Russia's Arctic shelf, rather than risk damaging the credibility of chief executive Bob Dudley if arbitration were to see it called off.
Mikhail Fridman, the billionaire oligarch who leads TNK-BP, will make the case for joining the tie-up at a board meeting in Paris today, after being given access to the fine print of the contract.
A second board meeting next week will see TNK-BP directors vote on Fridman's proposal, with directors expected to back Fridman's pursuit of a tripartite agreement.
The London-listed firm (up 0.5p to 489.3p) initially tried to bypass its long-term partner via a shotgun marriage blessed by Igor Sechin, Russia's deputy prime minister and the chairman of Rosneft.
But the company was forced to revise its plans after TNK-BP was granted the delaying injunction.
BP's grudging agreement to thrash out a compromise is thought to be behind a recent postponement of arbitration, allowing time for the inevitable horse-trading that will precede a revised agreement.
BP has always said it aims to resolve the impasse in a 'business-like' manner and allowing TNK-BP access to the deal will prevent a row with its Russian partners escalating any further.
AAR - the quartet of billionaires who own the other half of TNKBP - were understood to have been furious that BP hid the extent of its courtship of Rosneft.
The spat dredged up memories of the acrimonious falling-out in 2008 between BP and its Russian partners that saw Dudley - then chief executive of TNK-BP - flee the country.
Separately, BP has risked reigniting the wrath of the American public, after claiming that it is being fleeced on compensation claims made by victims of its vast oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP said assumptions in the methods used to calculate payouts were 'not supported by actual data'.
The firm believes projected damages incurred after 2010 have been set too high, saying that last December's shrimping season was the best for five years and that tourism had been less severely hit than feared.
And a White House commission has found that BP experts visiting the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig on the day it exploded could have prevented the disaster, but were not consulted on key test results.
Russian revolution
Jan 14: BP unveils partnership with state-backed Rosneft
Jan 27: TNK-BP files a High Court injunction delaying the deal
Feb 2: Rosneft says TNK-BP does not have the expertise to take part
Feb 17: Compromise talks look set to remove need for arbitration
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There are currently 18 broker(s) tracking this stock. The results are:
STRONG BUY: 0
BUY: 11
HOLD : 7
SELL: 0
STRONG SELL: 0
UPDATED: 18/02/2011 12:55 pm
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Latest prices for BP. - updated every 2 mins subject to a 15 min delay
OFFER (Buy): 492.5p
BID (Sell): 492.4p
MID PRICE: 492.45p
CHANGE TODAY: 3.1p
PREVIOUS CLOSE: 489.35p
UPDATED: 18/02/2011 12:50 pm
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