Shell May Form $1.7 Billion Siberian Venture, Kommersant Says

By Denis Maternovsky

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil company, is in talks to form a venture with Russian explorer OOO TaasYuriakh Neftegazdobycha, Kommersant reported.

Shell may pay $1.7 billion for half of a venture that will develop the Srednebotuobinskoye field in eastern Siberia, the newspaper reported today, citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the talks.

The deal needs the approval of the Russian government because the field, which may hold 98 million tons of oil, is on a list of ``strategically important'' assets, Kommersant said. Urals Energy Plc, the London-traded oil producer operating in Russia, owns 35 percent of TaasYuriakh, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at dmaternovsky@bloomberg.net