Russia's Putin wants offshore oil spill funds

* Russia seeks to tighten offshore regulation

* New bill to apply to Arctic offshore projects

MOSCOW, June 22 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave his backing on Wednesday to a bill that would require oil companies seeking offshore exploration licences to set aside financial reserves that would be used in event of an oil spill.

Putin told a government meeting that the bill, if approved by the parliament, would only allow those companies with "sufficient resources and (financial) reserves" to work on the shelf.

Russia is one of many oil producing countries looking to tighten safety regulation in the aftermath of last year's disaster at BP's (BP.L) deep-water Macondo well when 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.

The law will apply to all offshore zones on Russia's continental shelf including Arctic waters, which hold Russia's largest untapped oil and gas reserves.

Only state-controlled energy companies Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Gazprom (GAZP.MM) can obtain Arctic shelf licenses, but because neither company has sufficient technological expertise or offshore experience to develop complex offshore projects, they are in partnership talks with foreign companies.

The new law could push up exploration costs. Rosneft is talking to Chevron (CVX.N) about a possible Arctic oil partnership after the collapse of a deal British oil major BP (BP.L).

Gazprom picked Norway's Statoil (STL.OL) and France's Total (TOTF.PA) to develop Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea.

Rosneft has also said that oil majors Shell (RDSa.L) Exxon (XOM.N), China's CNPC [CNPET.UL], Malaysia's Petronas [PETR.UL] and Brazil's Petrobras (PETR4.SA) are candidates for Arctic deals.

Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev told reporters after the cabinet meeting that before an energy company is allowed into an offshore project, it will have to estimate the project's spill risks and then prove that it has the cash, insurance policies or bank guarantees sufficient to cover them.

"The size of (a company's) reserve fund will depend on the technology used as well as on the pollution level that could result from an emergency situation. The company calculates the amount, but it has to go through a state examination," he said. (Reporting by Nastya Teterevleva; Writing by Gleb Bryanski; editing by Jessica Bachman)