This case pairing is used in Darden's "Business to Business Marketing" course elective. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP seeks to expand its assets and revenues, so it looks to Russia, but a planned alliance with a Russian state-owned oil company is thwarted by objections from another Russian oil partner. This case maps BP's strategic alliances and illustrates the importance of alliance management. This is the first part of a two-part case.