Sechin says would welcome BP's Dudley to Rosneft board - report

* BP to get two seats in Rosneft's board

* Sechin says Dudley "is not a bad candidate" to the board

MOSCOW, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Rosneft head IgorSechin has given the green light to the possible inclusion of BP CEO Robert Dudley on the board of Russia's top crudeproducer, Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

If Dudley joins Rosneft's board, it would mark his return tothe Russian corporate world after he fled the country in 2008amid a corporate dispute at BP's Russian joint venture TNK-BP which he once headed.

BP secured two board seats at Rosneft after an agreement tosell its 50 percent stake in TNK-BP to the state-controlledcompany. In exchange, BP will receive $12.3 billion of cash and18.5 percent of Rosneft, raising its holding to 19.75 percent.

Rosneft also agreed to buy the other half of TNK-BP from theAAR consortium of Soviet-born tycoons for $28 billion.

Both deals are expected to close in the first half of 2013.

"Dudley is a not a bad candidate for the Rosneft board. Wewould welcome his inclusion into the company's board," Sechinwas quoted as saying during a visit to Venezuela.

Dudley and Sechin are already working together on an ad hockcommittee which oversees the Rosneft's takeover of TNK-BP,Russia's third-largest oil producer.

Both have been familiar to each other since Dudley's days inTNK-BP and have been closely cooperating after BP missed out ona deal with Rosneft to venture into the Russian Arctic, as aresult of its feud with the AAR tycoons in 2011, when Sechin wasRosneft's chairman and oversaw the Russian energy sector in thegovernment.

With BP as a partner occupying two seats on Rosneft's board,Sechin can also pursue his dream of rivalling global majors onthe world stage.

"We would be glad to see a professional on the board,"Sechin said, according to Interfax.