OREANDA-NEWS. October 12, 2009. RUSNANO CEO Anatoly Chubais and LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov signed a General Agreement on Strategic Cooperation between the companies within the framework of the Second Nanotechnology International Forum.

LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov and RUSNANO CEO Anatoly Chubais

Under the document, the Parties will develop their cooperation in commercializing nanotechnology and introducing it in the oil and gas industry including in LUKOIL Group facilities.

To this end RUSNANO will provide companies within LUKOIL Group with information on nanotechnology projects in the oil and gas sector.

The Parties will identify priority projects and regions to pilot test promising nanotechnology at LUKOIL Group’s sites.

To accomplish the Agreement, the Parties will, within one month of signing, set up a Task Group that will coordinate the processes of preparing and implementing top priority projects and actions. In addition, Regional Task Groups can also be set up.

In general, the implementation of the General Agreement will be coordinated by Andrey Malyshev, RUSNANO Deputy Director General, and Dzhevan Cheloyants, LUKOIL Vice President / Head of the Main Technical Division.

“The oil and gas industry has always been a leader in using new technology both in exploration and production and in hydrocarbon processing and petroleum products manufacture. We therefore also intend to introduce nanotechnology more actively in our operations,” said LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov.

Anatoly Chubais, in his turn, emphasized, “The innovation development of the Russian economy may not be realized unless there is a fundamental change in the attitude of business to introducing high technology in operations. I am convinced that the raw materials sector of economy should become a driver for the process.”