BP PLC's (BP) new Russian woes, including the loss of a major Arctic oil deal and a raid by Russian authorities on its premises last week, are "credit negative" for the company, said ratings agency Moody's Monday.

"Losing the Rosneft deal removes a potentially attractive strategic option to diversify its upstream operations after the 2010 Macondo spill," said Olivier Beroud, Managing Director of Corporate Finance at Moody's. The raid on its Moscow office, "suggests that BP's difficulties in Russia , a key source of production and future reserves, are likely to persist," he added.

Bailiffs raided BP's Moscow office last week to seize documents related to a lawsuit filed by a minority shareholder in BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP. The shareholder is seeking compensation for losses claimed following the failure of BP's Arctic exploration agreement with OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS).

BP was replaced in the Arctic deal by ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) last week.
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