OREANDA-NEWS. Russian oil company RussNeft will begin developing two oil field in Azerbaijan May 3, a Russian trade representative in the Caspian country said Wednesday

RussNeft and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) signed a production-sharing agreement last November to develop the Govsany-Zykh fields in the southern part of the Apsheron Peninsula, with recoverable reserves of 12 million metric tons (87 million barrels) of oil. "The company will start implementing the project to develop the Zykh-Govsany fields jointly with SOCAR," Yury Shchedrin said.

RussNeft will invest $100-150 million in the project, 10-15% of which will be earmarked for environmental conservation programs and safety needs. The contract was signed for 25 years and may be extended for another five years.

RussNeft is among Russia's top 10 crude producers. The vertically integrated company holds over 630 million metric tons (4,6 billion barrels) in recoverable reserves.