BP income share from TNK-BP rises fourfold

MOSCOW (Reuters) - BP's (BP.L) net income from its 50 percent share in Russian venture TNK-BP (TNBPI.RTS) more than quadrupled in the first quarter to $744 million (374 million pounds), BP said on Tuesday.

BP controls half of TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest oil producer, and had an income share of $162 million in the first quarter last year. In the fourth quarter of 2007, it estimated its share in TNK-BP's net income at $752 million.

Analysts view BP's earnings reports as a guidance to TNK-BP results but note that they can be significantly different from TNK-BP's final financial report.

(Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing by Quentin Bryar)