LUKoil has worked on the Caspian since 1995 and discovered a new oil province in the region with 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent in reserves. The company has invested $350 million in the project.
"Reaching these levels is possible if all forecasts and reserves are confirmed," Alexander Semyanov, deputy head of the company's geology and development department, said at an oil congress.
Last year saw the discovery of the unique Filanovsky field with 215 million tons (1.6 billion bbl) of oil equivalent in approved reserves in C1-C2 categories, of which oil accounts for 90%.
The official said the company intended to increase investment in prospecting work to 16 billion rubles ($615 million), from last year's 14 billion ($540 million), and expected this kind of operations to bring an extra 140 million tons (over 1 billion bbl) of equivalent.
In 2006, the company gained an additional 136 million tons of oil equivalent.
LUKoil is the world's second-largest oil producer by proven hydrocarbon reserves, estimated at the equivalent of 20 billion barrels of oil, including about 16 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The company said earlier this month that it expected to boost its share in the country's oil output from the current 19% to 22-23% by 2016.
