Oil major BP Plc , recovering from its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, said it is in talks with Russian state-controlled oil company Rosneft about a possible deal.

Sky news television said the British oil major will announce an exchange of shares with Rosneft, while a source familiar with the matter told Reuters the planned deal would involve the two companies jointly exploring for oil and gas in Russia and other places.

BP confirms that it is in discussions with Rosneft relating to a possible arrangement, a spokesman said in an emailed statement.

BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley has scheduled a news conference for 2100 GMT on Friday, at the company's headquarters. Dudley was in Moscow earlier on Friday for a routine meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

New York-listed shares in BP jumped 3.4 percent, or $1.62, to $49.16 in late afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the share swap report. Others confirmed the talks but would not comment on their nature.

(Additional reporting by Volodya Soldatkin and Toni Vorobyova in Moscow, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gary Hill)

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