Yukos Still Invest in Tomskneft

Yukos subsidiary, oil company Tomskneft VNK, plans to increase oil production in Tomsk region, according to Yukos Chairman Steven Theede.
At the opening of a gas turbine power plant at Igolsko-Talovoye field, which Tomskneft VNK is developing. Theede said that Yukos continued to invest in expanding production and creating jobs even amid the current difficult conditions.
Tomskneft VNK aims to increase oil production in Tomsk region, and so the company will continue geological exploration for this purpose. He said 16 new exploration and 100 production wells would be drilled in the region this year. The company will invest 8 billion rubles to recover associated gas in Tomsk region.

Tomskneft VNK has 17 licenses to produce oil and gas at fields in Tomsk region, seven licenses in Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous District, and licenses for oil exploration and production at eight blocks in these regions. The company had 2,784 production wells as of April 1.

Tomskneft produced 16.084 million tonnes of oil in 2003. It expects to produce about 20 million tonnes this year, or about 22% of production by Yukos.