Russia 's natural gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.RS) said late Thursday that it intends to extend a memorandum of cooperation with Novatek (NVTK.RS), the country's largest independent natural gas producer, until Feb. 1, 2013 .

According to the memorandum, which was signed this past April and was set to expire at the end of this year, Gazprom and Novatek are considering the formation of joint ventures to expand liquefied natural gas production facilities on the Yamal peninsula in northwest Siberia and jointly develop resources on the Gydan peninsula on the Siberian coast bordering the Kara Sea, Gazprom said in a statement.

"Gazprom and Novatek will soon take the next step toward the creation of a joint venture for production of LNG on Yamal. The relevant documents will be signed in January next year," Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller was quoted as saying in the statement.

In order to expand LNG production on Yamal, the companies are considering a joint venture based on the resources of Gazprom's Tambei group of fields, in which tentatively Gazprom would hold a 75% stake and Novatek would hold 25%.

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