Gunvor, the global fuel trader based in Switzerland, entered into a contract to purchase 30 percent of the Lagansky oil and gas block in the Caspian Sea. The company bought the block from Lundin Petroleum. Before the purchase, Lundin controlled 100 percent of the project.   

Gunvor is the biggest purchaser of oil and petroleum products originating in Russia. According to Kommersant Daily, the trader is controlled by Mr. Gennady Timchenko.

Russia’s Gazprom has retained a call option to purchase 50 percent plus one shares of the Lagansky project. The deal for options was signed two years ago, but Gazprom has not expressed a desire to exercise the option.

In 2008, while drilling the Morskaya section of the Lagansky field, Ludin discovered recoverable reserves of between 110 to 450 million barrels of oil equivalent. The reserves of the Petrovskaya section of the Lagansky block have been estimated at 300 million barrels.