TNK-BP feeling bullish

MOSCOW, July 9 (UPI) -- Anglo-Russian energy venture TNK-BP announced it will examine increasing its capital investment to match trends in the current market.

Timothy Summers, the chief operating officer at TNK-BP, said that the investment program for the Russian oil company was based on the understanding that its corporate footprint could change as the economy improves.

His comments came as the board of directors in June opted to allocate some $400 million for capital investments.

Investment analysts note TNK-BP saw a recovery in oil prices as a sign to move aggressively as Russian rival LUKoil has an investment program that is nearly twice as large as the Anglo-Russian venture, the Russian business daily News Time reports.

"Oil prices were rising in the last several months, and the company decided to increase its investment program by 20 percent," said Valery Nesterov, an energy analyst at the Troika Dialog investment bank.

Nesterov noted that if TNK-BP is to remain competitive in the current market climate, it needs to ramp up its investments. He cautioned, however, that if the economy were to collapse again, that optimism may be quickly erased.

"The market situation is favorable now and allows oilmen to think about additional investments," he said. "However, the market is still very unstable."

TNK-BP board directors will take up the matter at their next regular meeting scheduled for July 24.