Russia and Vietnam oil firms win Siberian fields

MOSCOW, May 7 (Reuters) - A consortium of Russian and Vietnamese state oil firms, ZarubezhNeft and PetroVietnam, has won a tender to develop four oil blocks in West Siberia, sources in the Russian firm and regional government said on Wednesday.

The blocks, which consist of 13 fields with total recoverable reserves of around 80 million tonnes of oil, are a part of the Central Khoreiversky deposit in the Nenets region.

The consortium beat Russia's largest oil producer, state-controlled Rosneft (ROSN.MM), which also took part in the tender.

The source at the Russian company said ZarubezhNeft and PetroVieitnam, which are equal partners in the Vietsovpetro oil joint-venture, will shortly decide on the distribution of shares in the new consortium.

"Most likely, the shares will be the same way as in Vietsovpetro," he told Reuters.

He added that the consortium is going to start drilling at the new fields in 2008 and can produce 4-5 million tonnes per year in five to seven years.

Vietsovpetro currently produces around 8 million tonnes per year (160,700 barrels per day) on offshore fields in Vietnam.

Last year, Vietnam and Russia signed an agreement to extend Vietsovpetro beyond 2010 on a new legal basis and with a view to operating in other countries. (Reporting by Ekaterina Golubkova, writing by Tanya Mosolova)