Russia to expand energy export

Russia will continue to expand the output and export of oil and natural gas and expects to ship 50 million tons of oil annually to the United States, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.

Interfax news agency reports Putin told a delegation of leading US businessmen in St. Petersburg,"We will step up the extraction of oil and gas, increase energy exports and expand cooperation with the leading companies, including US ones, on our continental territory, on the Barents Sea shelf, on the Sakhalin Island and other territories."