President Vladimir Putin met in Krasnodar on 22 July with ConocoPhilips
President James Mulva and LUKoil President Vagit Alekperov to discuss the
companies' joint projects to explore for oil in the Timan-Pechora region in
Northern Russia, RIA-Novosti and RTR reported. Putin also expressed interest in
ConocoPhilips' projects with Gazprom and Rosneft. "I would like relations
between Russian and U.S. businesses to develop more actively, especially in the
strategically important area of energy," Putin said, according to
RIA-Novosti. Putin also called for increased pipeline- infrastructure
development to facilitate the export of oil to Europe and the United States. After the meeting, Alekperov told journalists that Putin "approved
plans" to create an "energy bridge" between Russia and the United
States, RIA-Novosti reported. VY Copyright (c) 2004. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with
the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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