Russian oil giant Lukoil is engaged in talks to refine Venezuelan crude in its new Italian refining venture and to undertake more projects with the Latin American country, said a top manager of the oil company.

"Building Lukoil relationship with Venezuela has become an important matter. The Venezuelan government is interested in European markets," Lukoil's vice-president Andrei Kuzyaev, told Reuters.

New energy deals
Further, during the visit of President Chávez to Moscow four Russian energy firms initialed oil and gas cooperation agreements with Venezuela's state oil company (Pdvsa), a Kremlin source said.

The cooperation deals were signed between the Russian gas giant Gazprom, Lukoil and TNK-BP and Pdvsa, said a senior official of Russian President's Office, according to Interfax news agency. The source also said that Russia and Venezuela have good prospects for cooperation in sectors such as mining, construction, machinery and transport infrastructure.