Gazprom Neft, Chevron suspend work at joint venture

MOSCOW, June 23 (Reuters) - Russian oil firm Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM) said on Monday it has suspended work at its two projects with U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N) in the Arctic Yamal-Nenets region.

"Gazprom Neft and Chevron have decided to suspend work in (Yamal). It hasn't been as promising as previously thought," Gapzrom Neft's spokeswoman Natalya Vyalkina said.

Two years ago Gazprom Neft and Chevron formed the Northern Taiga NefteGaz joint venture, set up by the companies to jointly produce hydrocarbons in the West Siberian region. Gazprom Neft owns 75 percent of the venture and Chevron holds the rest.

Last week Gazprom Neft president Alexander Dyukov said the firm would be willing to work on another deposit with Chevron besides those in the joint venture.

But the spokeswoman on Monday said an additional deposit would most likely be part of the original joint venture agreement.

"The joint venture has not been liquidated, we'll think about which other areas we can develop," she added.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM), produced around 43 million tonnes of oil last year, flat on 2006, has been fighting declining production since its former owner, billionaire Roman Abramovich, sold the firm, then called Sibneft, to the gas giant in 2005

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova, writing by Amie Ferris-Rotman)