MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - Gazprom plans to produce 507 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2010 but could boost output to 600 billion cu m if necessary, a deputy board chairman said on Tuesday.

"This figure will be 507 billion cu m in 2010, about 510 billion cu m in 2011 and 523 billion cu m in 2012," Alexander Ananenkov said, adding that forecasting natural gas consumption was difficult amid uncertainties over how quickly various countries can overcome the economic crisis.

In 2009, Gazprom is set to produce 450-510 billion cubic meters of gas, Ananenkov said.

"450 billion cu m is the minimum and 510 billion cu m is the maximum," he said.

The Russian energy giant produced 549.7 billion cu m in 2008 or 0.2% more than in 2007.

Gazprom intends to invest 1.8 trillion rubles ($57.5 billion) in geological prospecting to boost Category 1 recoverable reserves to 21.8 billion metric tons of conventional fuel, Ananenkov said.

"From 2011, we are planning to expand reproduction of our minerals base and increase considerably the volume of geological prospecting over production," Ananenkov said, adding that with an annual output of 550-600 billion cubic meters, Gazprom's reserves were expected to grow 650-700 billion cu m annually.