New Lukoil, Gazprom Field Holds 100M Tons of Oil

The Caspian oil and gas field discovered jointly by Russia's OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) and OAO Lukoil (LKOH.RS) could hold more than 100 million metric tons, or around 730 million barrels, of oil, a person familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday.

Earlier the same day, the two companies said they had "discovered a large oil and gas condensate field" in the Caspian Sea's central structure.

The companies said they have started a feasibility study of the field, which is located 150 kilometers from Makhach-Kala on the border between Russia and Kazakhstan.

In comparison, Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (PBR) in November revealed it had discovered the Tupi field in Santos Basin, which could contain reserves of between 5 billion and 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it the world's biggest oil discovery in seven years.

The Caspian discovery was made by TsentrKasneftegaz - a joint venture between Gazprom and Lukoil created in 2003.

Lukoil - Russia's second biggest oil producer - last year said its proven oil reserves totaled 15,927 million barrels, or 2,173 million tons, of oil.