OAO Bashneft bought Siberian producer Burneftegaz LLC for more than $1 billion as the oil company controlled by billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov tries to match crude output with refining capacity.

Burneftegaz has at least 53.4 million tons (about 350 MMbbl) of reserves and began commercial production from the Sorovskoye Field last year, Bashneft said in a statement.

Bashneft, one of Russia’s largest refiners, has sought to increase oil production to equal the capacity of its plants in the Bashkortostan region near the Ural mountains. The company is also developing the Arctic Trebs and Titov fields in the Arctic in partnership with OAO Lukoil.

“The acquisition of Burneftegaz fully meets the requirements of our strategy for the upstream segment,” said CEO Alexander Korsik. This “involves expanding the resource base and acquiring promising assets which have considerable production potential.”

Output from the Sorovskoye field began in 2013 and totaled 300,000 tons for the year (about 6,000 bbl/d) with 33 production wells drilled on the field, according to the statement. Production drilling has started at the Tortasinskoye field as well, the company said.