UPDATE 2-LUKOIL says has no official word on Conoco stake

(Adds ConocoPhillips comment and share action)

* UBS says Conoco may halve stake in LUKOIL

* Could raise $4.8 bln from sale-note

* LUKOIL says not commenting on market rumors

* Troika brokerage doubtful sale would make sense

* ConocoPhillips shares up 3 pct

MOSCOW, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Russian oil major LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) said on Thursday it had no official information from its partner, ConocoPhillips (COP.N) , about a report that the huge U.S. oil company might halve its stake in LUKOIL.

Conoco said on Wednesday it will cut its 2010 capital budget by 12 percent and sell off $10 billion in assets in the next few years to improve its financial position. [ID:nN07511529]

On Thursday, UBS said ConocoPhillips, the No. 3 U.S. oil company, might cut its stake in LUKOIL, Russia's No. 2 oil company, in half to 10 percent. LUKOIL's current market capitalization is $48 billion while Conoco is worth around $72 billion.

"We are not commenting on market rumors. We don't have official information from Conoco," Andrei Gaidamaka, LUKOIL's deputy vice president for strategic development, told Reuters.

UBS said in a research note that the stake sale - which could take up to two years -- could bring Conoco $4.8 billion in cash and $2.1 billion in pretax profit.

"What ConocoPhillips assets might ultimately be included in achieving our goal of raising $10 billion is not something we are at this point able to provide, as the decision to undertake this program was just announced yesterday," a spokesman for ConocoPhillips said in a statement sent by email.

UBS said buyers could be institutional investors and some shares could be acquired by LUKOIL's top managers, Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun, who have increased their holdings in the company in recent years.

LUKOIL shares traded up 4 percent at 1230 GMT, slightly outperforming the broader Russian market MICEX and MICEX's oil and gas indexes .MCXOG. Conoco shares were up $1.66 or 3.3 percent to $51.36 in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.

Troika Dialog brokerage said it believed the chances of such a large sale were low as it would be difficult to find buyers.

"A management buyout would likely involve excessive leverage that we have a difficult time imagining at this point. What is left are the state-owned funds (such as China Investment Corp, for example), but they are usually friendly buyers, and the Russian government may not like this idea," Troika said.

"If the U.S. major sells its stake, this would look rather damaging politically, and the company would have to leave Russia and all of its projects with LUKOIL for good," Troika said in a note.

"We also note that Prime Minster Vladimir Putin recently called ConocoPhillips "practically a Russian company," which suggests to us that the government fully approves and encourages the partnership between the Russian and U.S. oil majors. (Editing by David Cowell and Gerald E. McCormick)