The executive board of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom has decided to bid for the main production unit of oil major YUKOS at a December 19th auction, the head of Gazprom's oil unit said today.
"The management board of Gazprom has decided that Gazpromneft will take part in the auction of Yuganskneftegaz," Mr Sergei Bogdanchikov, head of Gazpromneft, told an energy conference.
"We reckon that acquiring assets with production of the order of 50 million tonnes (1 million barrels per day) will allow us to raise output to 88-90 million tonnes," Mr Bogdanchikov added.
Gazprom is tipped as the likely winner in the auction of Yuganskneftegaz - which the government is putting on the block at a starting price of $8.65 billion - either alone or together with a foreign partner.