LUKOIL, Russia��s second-largest oil producer, said Wednesday it would send 33,000 barrels of oil per day to China by rail in the first quarter of 2005, reported Shenzhen Daily on Friday. 

Its deliveries would partially cover the 400,000 tons per month that its ailing rival Yukos was forced to cut in October, the company said.

��We are going to sign an appropriate agreement by the end of 2004,�� Gennady Fadeyev, president of Lukoil, said.

The company was also talking to more Russian oil firms about extra supplies that would allow Russia to meet its intergovernmental agreement with China, Fadeyev said.

Source: Shenzhen Daily-Agencies