Lotos arm to spend PLN 390 mln on upstream in 2008

WARSAW, May 16 (Reuters) - Petrobaltic, the upstream arm of Poland's second largest refiner Lotos LTOS.WA, plans to invest 390 million zlotys ($178 million) this year in boosting extraction from the Baltic sea, Lotos said on Friday.

"This year the company (Petrobaltic) plans to carry out its largest investment programme. It will invest 390 million zlotys into expanding extraction operations on Baltic Sea," the company said in a statement.

Last year the Polish government allowed Petrobaltic to extract oil from a new oil field on the Baltic Sea named B8.

Lotos controls 69 percent of Petrobaltic and plans to boost its stake to 100 percent through a share swap with the state treasury. (Reporting by Patryk Wasilewski; Editing by Quentin Bryar)