MOSCOW, May 18 (UPI) -- A joint venture between Russia and Kazakhstan targets the hydrocarbon potential in the Caspian Sea, a Russian oil executive said.
A license between a Russian energy company for work on the Kazakh continental shelf in the Caspian Sea expired in 2009.
Russian oil company Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said a joint venture to develop the field was in the works.
"Currently the joint venture is being established and we hope that it will be registered soon and receive a license for exploration and production," he was quoted by the energy reporting Web site Rigzone as saying.
There was no reserve estimate or timeline indicated by Alekperov. The U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration notes Kazakhstan has the second-largest oil reserves among former Soviet republics.
Offshore oil reserves are estimated by the EIA at around 14 billion barrels.
