The agreement was reached during the talks today between visiting Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister V K Ramamurthy and his Russian counterpart Sergei Generalov.

Ramamurthy and Generalov also agreed to the Indian proposal to open an office in Moscow by ONGC Videsh Ltd to facilitate oil cooperation between India and Russia.

India is reported to be ready to invest up to one billion US dollars in Russian oil companies with equity stakes.

ONGC Videsh wants to make Russia a major focus of its activity, as a good number of its oil engineers and technicians are Russian-trained.

Today, the fifth meeting of the Joint Working Group on Oil and Gas started discussions on major items of bilateral cooperation in the field of oil and gas. Thisincluded review of the implementation of the previous joint working group meeting's decisions, participation of ONGC Videsh Ltd in Russian oil projects, Russian participation in Indian oil projects, joint participation in exploration and development of oil fields, and Indian participation with Russian giants Gazprom and Lukoil.

The Indian delegation at the talks was led by Shivraj Singh, director general, Ministry of Petroleum and Gas, who is also co-chairman of the joint working group. Russian deputy fuel and energy minister E Telegina led the Russian side.

Earlier, speaking at a reception hosted by the Indian Embassy, Ramamurthy expressed the hope that his visit would boost bilateral business relations.

Conveying a message from Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Union Minister said Vajpayee is very keen to strengthen relationship with Russia in all fields.