On November 25th 1991, the state owned company LangepasUraiKogalymneft was founded in the Russian Federation, which included the associated companies Langepasneftegas, Uraineftegas, Kogalymneftegas, having also crude oil processing capabilities. The acronym LUK was created from the company name LangepasUraiKogalymneft. LUKOIL Company was registered on April 22nd 1993 with the Moscow Trade Register.

Since its foundation, LUKOIL Company has undergone a dynamic development. In 1994 the first LUKOIL shares were made private property and were listed with the secondary stock exchange. In accordance with a Governmental Decree of the Russian Federation issued in 1995, numerous companies acting in the field of oil production, distribution and related services were merged with LUKOIL. This resulted in a growth of the oil volume produced from the fields and processed in the refineries owned by LUKOIL. ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company) became one of the major shareholders and strategic partners.

In 1996 LUKOIL entered a partnership exploring potentially profitable oil fields in Azerbaijan si Kazakhstan. Also in 1996 an ambitious program was started with a view to create the company’s own fleet for petroleum product transport.

Simultaneously with consolidating its existing activities, LUKOIL made a number of acquisitions in various sectors of the oil industry. In 1998, the major stock of "Petrotel" refinery (Romania) and polymer plant “Stavropolpolymer" (Russian Federation) was purchased. In 1999, the refineries in Odessa (Ukraine) and Neftochim-Burgas (Bulgaria), the petrochemical plant in Saratov (Russian Federation) and the oil company "KomiTEK" (Russian Federation) were acquired. In 2000 another important acquisition was made by LUKOIL. The American motor fuel distribution company "Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc." (about 1260 filling stations in 13 states of the north-eastern US) was taken over by LUKOIL.

A number of projects in the Caspic Sea region lead to strengthening LUKOIL’s position within the oil industry of this area. In 2000 production began in a new oil field ("Severnai") in the northern part of the Caspic Sea. LUKOIL takes part in the construction of an oil pipeline in the Caspic Sea area within a consortium.

In October 2001, in the processing sector, LUKOIL acquired 85.36% of "NORSI-Oil" stock, which includes one of the largest refineries in Russia. During this period the company’s positions were strengthened with a number of acquisitions in the oil production sector. Starting from 2002, LUKOIL has been listed with the London Stock Exchange.

Presently, the Russian State holds 7.6% of LUKOIL’s shares, the rest being owned by foreign private companies. At present, LUKOIL operates in 60 of the 89 regions of Russia and its development is an ongoing process. The Company’s confirmed oil reserves are in Western Siberia, Tiumen, Volga-Ural region, Timano Peciora region, and presently exploration is undertaken in the Russian offshore of the Caspian Sea.

LUKOIL is the biggest oil company in Russia as far as oil reserves, oil production and processing are concerned, its share in the domestic oil production being of about 20% (79.8 mil. tons) and 2% of global oil production

In the last years the company’s proven oil reserves grew by 14%, gas production grew by 11%, and the volume of oil processed by 18%. At the same time, the network of retail stations has expanded 3,5 fold. As far as confirmed oil reserves are concerned, LUKOIL is the world leader among the private companies listed with stock exchanges, it is number four worldwide among oil companies with proven and potential reserves, and it is ranked seventh in the world as far as its oil production is concerned

LUKOIL owns three petrochemical complexes in Russia and Bulgaria, as well as numerous pipelines for transporting crude oil and petroleum products, taking part in various international projects, such as the Consortium of the Caspic Pipeline. Also LUKOIL operates distribution networks in the United States, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Baltic States, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus, Republic of Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The retail petroleum products network includes about 4076 filling stations in Russia and other countries, of which 1691 stations are in Russia and 2 385 - in Europe and the USA.

Thus, one can say that LUKOIL is the Russian oil company with the widest international diversification and its development rate is among the highest in the world.

In the short-term, LUKOIL has set as its target the modernisation of its refineries, the result of which will be the production of environment friendly petroleum products and the continuous effort to create a complex network of petroleum product distribution. The long term plan provides that in the next 10 years investments shall be made in developing the company’s own infrastructure with a view to export crude oil and petroleum products via terminals, railway and pipelines. Another strategic goal is for LUKOIL to own about 8 000 filling stations in Russia and abroad by 2010.