Russia has discovered a new large oil deposit with estimated reserves of over 150 million metric tons (1.1 billion barrels) in East Siberia, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev said on Wednesday.

"We have made an important oil discovery. We can report today that we have opened the Sevastyanovo oil field, with reserves of over 150 million metric tons. This a strategic deposit," Trutnev said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

The deposit is located in the Irkutsk Region and was discovered by state-run oil major Rosneft. It has category C1+C2 reserves of 160.2 million metric tons (1.17 billion barrels), Trutnev said.

The amount of natural reserves prospected by Russia last year exceeded extraction figures, bucking the trend of recent years.

Russia extracted 490 million metric tons of oil (3.6 billion barrels) in 2009 while oil reserves discovered last year amounted to 620 million metric tons (4.5 billion barrels).

MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti)