MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom and BP have discussed the possible establishment of a joint venture for liquefied natural gas, the Russian energy giant said Thursday.

"The parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation, particularly the possibility of setting up a joint enterprise to develop international business, including in liquefied natural gas production," Gazprom said.

British Petroleum is a leader in the world LNG trade and one of the world's biggest non-state oil and gas companies. Its oil reserves exceed 18.3 billion barrels of the oil equivalent, natural gas - 1.4 trillion cubic meters.

The company's main activities are development and production of oil and gas, wholesale and retail trade in oil products, gas sales, and petrochemistry.