ConocoPhillips to sell Russian JV interest to partner Lukoil

(Reuters) - ConocoPhillips (COP.N) said it will sell its indirect 30 percent interest in a joint venture in Russia and certain related assets to partner Lukoil (LKOH.MM) as part of a divestment program.

Conoco had entered into an agreement with Lukoil, Russia's No.2 crude producer, in 2004 to create the NaryanMarNefteGaz joint venture to develop oil and natural gas resources in the northern part of the country's Timan-Pechora province.

The joint venture, in which Lukoil held 70 percent, holds seven licenses and is producing from five fields.

Houston-based Conoco, which split its refining and market operations earlier this year, expects to recognize an after-tax financial gain of about $400 million from the sale.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Conoco had targeted asset sales of $15 billion to $20 billion by the end of 2012. The company has already exceeded its target, raising $20.2 billion.

Conoco last year divested its stake in Russia's Lukoil for $9.5 billion and followed that up with the sale of its Vietnam operations for $1.29 billion in February.

(Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)