TNK-BP's employees have been granted 49 visas by the Russian migration service, ending fears its senior executives, including chief executive Bob Dudley, might be forced to leave the country this month.

A spokesman for the visa service said applications from the expatriate staff at TNK-BP, most of whom are former employees of BP, would be approved within 10 days.

He told Reuters: “We will speed up the process for those whose visas expire earlier.”

BP had acknowledged that a slew of senior staff including Mr Dudley, TNK-BP’s chief financial officer and its chief operating officer might be forced to exit the country following the visa row.

BP has been under sustained attack from AAR, the consortium of Russian billionaires who are 50 per cent partners in TNK-BP.

The joint venture has been subjected to a campaign of unexplained raids, tax probes and environmental investigations amid an apparent struggle for control of the company, Russia’s third largest producer of crude oil.

The billionaires have also threatened legal action against BP and have demanded the resignation of Mr Dudley, whom they accuse of acting solely in the interests of BP.

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