A battle between BP and its Russian partners for control of TNK-BP, the oil venture, overshadowed Russia's efforts to court chief executives from some of the world's biggest companies this weekend as a senior government official said the stand-off was set to escalate.

More than $14bn in deals were signed at the St Petersburg Economic Forum, where Russia rolled out the red carpet to woo about 90 chief executives from some of the world's biggest companies, including Michael Klein, chairman of Citi’s institutional clients business, and Rex Tillerson, chief executive of ExxonMobil.