In a statement Petro-Canada said, “The MOU covers options for Petro-Canada and Gazprom to jointly develop a liquefaction plant in the St. Petersburg region, and investigate options for gas supplies to that LNG plant and re-gasification in North America.”

“The MOU encompasses a cooperative study of all aspects of the LNG value chain including liquefaction, re-gasification and the supply-demand fundamentals relevant to marketing arrangements. The MOU [also] includes the potential for further co-operation in both Russia and North America on exploration and production, re-gasification and marketing,” it added.

On a separate note, Russia’s Justice Ministry has announced it intends to sell off part of OAO Yukos’ Yuganskneftegaz to pay for Yukos’ outstanding tax debts which the tax authorities say the Russian firm owes.

In a statement the Ministry said, “Earlier this year, bailiffs said they wanted to sell Yuganskneftegaz to cover Yukos’ multibillion-dollar tax arrears. As the valuation of Yuganskneftegaz has been completed the Justice Ministry has resolved to sell part of Yuganskneftegaz’s property through the Russian Federal Property Fund.”

According to the head of the Moscow division of the Ministry, Alexander Buxman, “Investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) valued the unit, Yuganskneftegaz, at US$10.4 billion. DrKW had assigned a discount of up to 60% on the asset to take into account the high risks for the potential buyer.”

“The sale of a minority stake in Yuganskneftegaz wouldn’t yield enough to cover Yukos’ outstanding tax debts of US$3.73 billion for 2000 and 2001,” added Buxman who did not elaborate further.

DrKW, a unit of Dresdner Bank AG, has confirmed it handed over the long-awaited valuation to ministry officials. It declined, however, to confirm the figure quoted by Buxman.

It is understood Russia’s Surgutneftegaz is the most probable buyer for the Yuganskneftegaz stake.