1.   And unlike other big Russian petroleum companies, it pledges to make public the identities of its major shareholders, probably next year.

2.   Executives of Polar Lights, as the joint venture is called in English, described this as the single largest investment from the West in the Russian petroleum industry.

3.   Gazprom, a huge and politically influential Russian petroleum company, and Petronas, a Malaysian state oil firm, are partners with Total in the Iranian deal.

4.   The Camarillo, Calif.-based company struck a deal in January to supply Russian petroleum companies and refineries with motor oil additives and similar products.

5.   Also in on the deal are Gazprom, a Russian petroleum company, and Petronas, a Malaysian company.

6.   The agreement to expand operations resulted from talks between Russian petroleum companies and a Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Duc Luong.