Energy giant BP has extended its sponsorship of the Royal Opera House - along with four other major London-based institutions - for a further five years. The deal, which also sees grants to the National Portrait Gallery, the Tate and the British Museum, is worth £10m across the four institutions.

BP's support of the ROH dates back 23 years. Most recently this has been linked to the Big Screen Programme, which offers live broadcasts to public screens of opera and ballet. Launched in 2000 with one London location, it now includes 21 locations throughout the UK, reaching 40,000 people this year.

The announcement was made at a press conference this morning at the British Museum. In welcoming the deal, Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries also reiterated that corporate giving remained only part of the way arts in the UK will be funded. 'The government still supports the arts very strongly...that will continue. We are very firm believers in public subsidy - public subsidy not only provides core support but encourages companies like BP.' The managing director of BP, Iain Conn, would not confirm how the funding breaks down across the four organisations, though indicated it was roughly equal.

BP's support of the arts is not without its critics, with BP-sponsored events such as the opening of the NPG's Portrait Award attracting environmental protestors. However, a deal such as this, while offering arts organisations the guarantee of funds in difficult times, also offers BP the image benefits of having its corporate identity linked to their crowd-drawing work.