MOSCOW (AFP) — Top Russian oil company Lukoil plans to form a joint venture with energy giant Gazprom to acquire new assets in Russia and abroad, its president said Thursday.

"We have agreed to form a joint venture with Gazprom. An agreement should be signed soon," Vagit Alekperov told Rossiya television channel.

"Gazprom has named Gazprom Neft the operator of this joint venture," Alekperov said, referring to Gazprom's oil division, which was known as Sibneft under the past ownership of billionare Roman Abramovich.

The venture would combine the forces of Russia's largest oil company, privately-owned Lukoil, and the oil branch of the world's largest gas company, state-controlled Gazprom.

Gazprom Neft is itself Russia's fifth-largest oil company by market capitalization after state-owned Rosneft, Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP and Surgutneftegas.

Both companies have previously announced their intention to expand further into world markets and they have previously partnered in forming a joint oil chemicals venture, Alfa Bank oil and gas analyst Andrei Fyodorov told AFP.

In addition to buying lucrative refining assets, the joint venture might acquire integrated European oil companies "that combine extraction and refining of oil with marketing and even power generation," Fyodorov said. "This way they can be not just oil or gas companies, but complete energy companies."

The announcement came a day after Gazprom announced that current Gazprom Neft head Alexander Ryazanov would be replaced, but Fyodorov said a connection was unlikely.

"It's too early to talk about a change of direction for Gazprom Neft one day after the announcement" of Ryazanov's departure, he said.