RussNeft Thinks of Increasing Its Oil Output by 50% in 2005.

NK RussNeft OAO is thinking of increasing its oil output by 50% against the result of 2004 and bring it to 15 million tons, as informed President of the company Mikhail Gutseriev Friday at a press-conference in Tomsk given up to the cooperation agreement concluded between the company and the Tomsk region. In 2004 Russneft produced 10 million tons of crude oil, its consolidated proceeds being $2 billion, pointed out the head of the company. According to him, the bulk increase in oil output is planned for the first half of the year. Specifically by April the output level is anticipated to be up to 12.5 million tons. At the same time five million tons of crude oil are planned to be exported westwards. To enable the export
RussNeft is going to complete construction of the oil loading complex in the Bryansk region.
M.Gutseriev also informed that in the current year RussNeft would concentrate on establishing a big entity in Central Siberia. For instance, annual oil output in the Tomsk region is to be brought to 3 million tons in 2005-2006. With all this going on the current year inputs of the company in exploration, search drilling and seismic prospecting in this area will come to one billon rubles. “We attach much importance to the search of vast reservoirs of liquid hydrocarbons in eastern and north-eastern parts of the Tomsk region”, pointed out M.Gutseriev. In the Tomsk region Russneft owns Sobolinoye ZAO, whose annual oil output is nearly 200 thousand tons of crude oil, and a number of small entities with promising oilfields; they are Poselkovoye,  Fedyushkinskoye, Grushevoye, Stolblvoye, Duplinskoye LLCs. Their total recoverable reserves amount to 28 million tons of crude oil.
Furthermore in the end of 2004 RussNeft bought Benodet Investments Ltd. (Cyprus) possessing seven oilfields in the Tomsk region (Guraringskoye, Yasnoye, Yuzhno-Tabaganskoye, Solonovoye, Smolyanskoye, Kulguinskoye, Boltnoye) with total recoverable reserves nearing 17.5 million tons of crude oil and 192 million cubic meters of soluble gas. Currently five oilfields are being developed – Boltnoye, Guraringskoye, Kulguinskoye, Yuzhno-Tabaganskoye and Yasnoye. In 2004 annual output of hydrocarbon feed at the oilfields of Benodet Investments Ltd. exceeded 800 thousand tons. 
NK RussNeft OAO was founded in 2002. It structures 20 producing companies in Western Siberia, Penza, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Bryansk, Archangelsk, Republics of Komi, Udmurtia and Byelorussia. In the beginning of 2005 the total recoverable reserves of the share holding company in C1 category amounted to 500 million tons.