Rosneft To Drill Caspian

Rosneft, the Russian state controlled oil producer, will represent the country in tapping an offshore oil field in the Caspian Sea on the border with Kazakhstan, Vedomosti has reported, citing the government as its source.

Gazprom, the world's top natural gas producer, will join Rosneft in the project. Gazprom and Rosneft will equally split Russia's fifty percent stake in the Kurmangazy field, the paper said.

Russia and Kazakhstan last month agreed to map their offshore border and jointly explore three oil fields, including Kurmangazy, which both nations have claimed. Kurmangazy is estimated to hold one and three quarter billion barrels of oil, the paper said.

France's TotalFinaElf has been in talks with the Kazakh government on exploring the Kurmangazy field on behalf of Kazakhstan.

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