MOSCOW (AFP) - US oil major ConocoPhillips has boosted its stake in Russia's second-largest oil producer LUKoil to 10 percent, giving Conoco at least one representative on LUkoil's board.
LUKoil may announce a date for an extraordinary general meeting to elect a new board of directors as early as Friday, meaning that ConocoPhillips would be represented on the 11-member board early next year.
A board member gives the US number three oil producer a certain degree of control over LUKoil's operations, and the company has already aired plans to eventual raise its stake in LUKoil to 20 percent.
In Russia's largest post-Soviet privatization deal, ConocoPhillips initially bought a 7.6-percent government state in LUKoil in September for 1.988 billion dollars (1.613 billion euros).
The two companies said they would pool their resources jointly to tap vast resources believed to be hidden in Western Siberia and to relaunch long-stalled projects in war-torn Iraq, to which the US firm may gain access.
Analysts at the time said the price by ConocoPhillips proved fair but also showed that Western investors were still cautious about Russia amid recent worries about President Vladimir Putin's commitment to property rights.
11/17/2004 - 11:23 GMT - AFP