Kazakhstan’s national company KazMunayGas and Russia’s oil major Lukoil plan joint exploration of the offshore section of Al-Farabi oil field in the Caspian Sea, the Kazakh energy ministry said.

It said the two sides held talks and signed a protocol. The two companies plan to set up a joint venture, with the Kazakh side expected to own 50.01%.

Al-Farabi is located in the Kazakh sector of the Caspian Sea. The water depth within the site is 150-500 metres, the distance to the coast is 100-130 km, the area covers about 6,000 sq. km.

Lukoil is an investor in Kazakhstan with assets in the Khvalynskoye (50%), Centralnaya (25%), Zhenis (50%) projects as well as in Tengiz (5%), Karachaganak (13.5 %) and the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (12.5%)