PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, March 27, 2003
ОАО LUKOIL and shareholders of the Urals Group have reached an agreement in principle regarding sale to LUKOIL Group companies of oil assets of the Urals Group in the Republic of Komi.
Such assets include, in particular, a 50.8% stake in ОАО Tebukneft, a 59.8% stake in ОАО Ukhtaneft and a 58.3% stake in ZАО RKM Oil.
Thus, as a result of this transaction and other arrangements with other shareholders, ОАО LUKOIL together with its affiliates will control over 85% of the shares of ОАО Tebukneft, over 85% of the shares of ОАО Ukhtaneft and about 90% of the shares of ZAO RKM Oil.
According to a geological and economic evaluation of the oil and gas reserves of the above companies performed by Miller and Lents, gross reserves (proven and probable) amount to 48.1 mln. tons of oil and 4.1 bln. cu. m. of gas; possible reserves amount to 13.7 mln. tons of oil and 0.7 bln. cu. m. of gas. In 2002 ОАО Tebukneft produced 1,047.6 thousand tons of oil, ОАО Ukhtaneft – 285.6 thousand tons, and ZAO RKM Oil – 100.7 thousand tons.
This transaction requires approval by governmental regulatory authorities. Terms of the deal will be disclosed upon receipt of all required approvals.
As has been already announced, on March 21, 2003 the annual general shareholders meeting of OAO Tebukneft was held which elected 9 members – representatives of OAO LUKOIL – to the board of directors. The meeting also resolved to pay dividends on preferred shares.
On April 2 at 5 p.m. a conference for investment analysts on the Company's projects in the Republic of Komi will be held in LUKOIL's offices.
