MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom Neft, the oil producing arm of energy giant Gazprom, is interested in joining a consortium of Russian companies for oil projects in Venezuela, the company's CEO said on Thursday.

"The company is interested in participating in the consortium, which has been established to work on the territory of Venezuela," Alexander Dyukov said.

The oil and gas consortium of Russian companies to work in Venezuela includes Gazprom, Rosneft, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and LUKoil. The consortium of Russian companies will be operated by Gazprom, while control of the Russian-Venezuelan oil and gas alliance will be exercised by Venezuela's state-controlled Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).

Oil to be produced by the consortium will be exported to the United States, China and Europe.

Dyukov also said the deposits offered by Venezuela for development as part of the consortium had unique characteristics and Gazprom Neft wanted to develop them.

Venezuela's proven oil reserves total 11.2 billion metric tons (82 billion barrels) and account for 7% of the world's proven reserves. Venezuela's proven natural gas reserves amount to over 4 trillion cubic meters. The Latin American country holds the second-largest natural gas reserves in the western hemisphere after the United States.