Reports about new partner for Gazprom Neft in Salym untrue - Dyukov

MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) - Reports that Gazprom Neft has a new partner in the Salym project are untrue, Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov told reporters.

Asked whether Gazprom Neft had acquired a new partner in the Salym project, he said: "This information is untrue."

The Kommersant newspaper said, quoting two sources, that the businessman Gennady Timchenko had acquired a 50% stake in Salym Petroleum Development LLC. The company has not disclosed its current owners.

SPD is developing the Salym group of oil fields, including West Salym, Verkhnesalym, Vadelyp, Yuzhno-Yamskoi, Vostochno-Shapshinsky, and Salym-2 in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District (KhMAD), according to the company's website. Recoverable C1+C2 oil reserves are 140 million tonnes.