1 Oct 2009 10:24

Foreign co could tap major oil field in Russia

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK. Oct 1 (Interfax) - A foreign company could tap a major oil field in central Russia this year.

"We expect two oil fields with reserves ranking them close to fields of federal importance, that is with more than 50 million tonnes, to be discovered in 2009," Sergei Donskoi, a deputy natural resources minister, said at the Sakhalin Oil & Gas 2009 conference.

Donskoi said one of the fields was located in central Russia and was being prospected by a foreign company, and one was in north Siberia, and licensed to a state-owned company.

He declined to name the companies in question.