Lukoil, Total to jointly explore Siberian shale oil

Lukoil and France's Total have signed a memorandum to develop the Bazhenov shale oil fields in western Siberia, Interfax news agency quoted Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov as saying on March 29, Reuters has reported.

Alekperov, speaking to reporters in the Iraqi city of Basra on March 29 where the company launched production at its West Qurna-2 oil field, did not give additional details or clarify if the deal was signed after Russia annexed Crimea.

Interfax also reported an unnamed Lukoil representative told it the company plans to extract some 100,000 tonnes of oil (733,000 barrels) at the Bazhenov formation this year.

Copyright: Reuters, 2014