UPDATE 1-TNK-BP to decide on Eurobond by year-end

* COO Summers has no comment on possible size of bond

* TNK-BP already has $4.5 bln in outstanding Eurobonds

(Adds details, quotes)

MOSCOW, June 30 (Reuters) - Russian oil major TNK-BP TNBPI.RTS, half owned by oil major BP (BP.L), will decide on its next Eurobond issue by the end of the year, its chief operating officer told reporters on Tuesday.

"The Eurobond market is complex at the moment but it is something that we would consider. We will take a decision by the end of the year," Tim Summers replied when asked about a possible Eurobonds placement.

He did not specify the size of a possible placement, but in separate comments to Reuters he added that the company "will evaluate the situation through the summer."

TNK-BP has six outstanding Eurobond issues with a maturity range from 2011 to 2018 totaling $4.5 billion. <0#RUEUROSPZ=>

The protracted economic downturn has effectively barred Russian corporations from the Eurobond market, but improved conditions are allowing some companies to return to the external debt market.

Russia's No.2 bank, state-run VTB (VTBR.MM), and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM), the oil arm of gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM), plan to issue benchmark-sized Eurobonds, while oil firms Tatneft TATN3.MM and LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) are seeking jumbo loans.

Summers, who on June 1 returned to his former role as chief operating officer after serving as interim CEO of the company, said financial results of the second quarter are likely to beat January-March figures amid an improved pricing environment.

"The quarter is not over yet, but I would expect that net profit would be better than in the first quarter," he said.

TNK-BP posted a first-quarter net profit of $747 million, down 58 percent year-on-year, as lower crude prices offset an increase in production from new fields. [ID:nLL411012]

(Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by David Cowell)