RusEnergy

April 9th, 2009 - LONDON -(Dow Jones by Alexander Kolyandr) - Russian oil company Russneft, a part of billionaire Oleg Deripaska's holding company Basic Element, or Bazel said Thursday it produced 14.2 million metric tons, or 106.5 million barrels, of oil in 2008, marginally higher than in 2007. The privately-owned company said its revenue for 2008 was $8.09 billion, up 20% from 2007, due to higher oil prices for the most part of the year. The company didn't provide its profit for the year. Russneft said that in 2008 it paid $3.6 billion of taxes and tax arrears. The company also said that in December 2008 it paid off $208 million of debt to its bond holders. For 2009 the company said it aims at reducing its lifting costs by 30%. As Dow Jones Newswire reported, talks between Bazel and OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS) to sell Russneft have stalled over the valuation of the company. Bazel, which is struggling now to pay off its debts to Russian and foreign banks, paid $3 billion in 2007 for Russneft and assumed the company's debt of about $2.8 billion. The deal has yet to be cleared by Russia's authorities. Russneft's previous owner, billionaire Mikhail Gutseriyev, fled to the U.K. last year amid tax-evasion charges.