LUKoil's investment program for 2007 is worth $10 billion, the oil company's President Vagit Alekperov announced at a news conference following the Board of Directors' meeting on Tuesday. He stated that LUKoil was not going to correct its investment program for 2007 and 2008, and that all projects envisaged in the company's 2007 business plan would be financed as planned. ( RBC )
Alekperov stressed that LUKoil was one of Russia's biggest taxpayers, having paid about RUR 260 billion (approx. $10.14bn) in taxes in the first half of this year. Last year, the oil company invested over $7 billion. According to its long-term development program approved in 2006, LUKoil will invest approximately $100 billion in various projects over the next ten years. Alekperov came up with an idea to create the Federal Energy Saving Agency, saying that it had the support of the Fuel and Energy Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. The committee, chaired by Alekperov, submitted the initiative to the authorities. LUKoil is one of Russia's largest oil companies, with an authorized capital of RUR 21.264 million (approx. 829,000) divided into 850.563 million ordinary shares. A 63.3 percent stake is held by ING Bank ( Eurasia), and a further 20 percent is controlled by ConocoPhillips. In 2006, LUKoil increased oil production by 5.8 percent to 703.1 million barrels, or 95.2 million tonnes. Production of sales gas stood at 13.61 billion cubic meters, up 141.6 percent on the year.LUKoil's net profit dropped 17 percent in 2006 to RUR 55.14 billion (approx. $2.1bn) under Russian accounting standards. Net profit under US GAAP grew 16 percent to $7.484 billion.