Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Four of Russia's biggest energy companies have asked the government to approve state loans for refinancing debt, said a spokesman for OAO Lukoil, the country's second-biggest oil producer.

Lukoil is seeking between $2 billion and $5 billion to refinance loans, spokesman Dmitry Dolgov said by phone in Moscow today. The other three companies are OAO Gazprom, the world's biggest natural-gas company; OAO Rosneft, Russia's largest oil producer; and TNK-BP, BP Plc's 50 percent Russian venture.

The loans may be used for ``force majeure situations'' or long-term investments in energy projects, Gazprom said today in a statement distributed by the Regulatory News Service. The Moscow-based company said it doesn't need to increase its current borrowing program.

Marina Dracheva, spokeswoman for TNK-BP, and Nikolai Manvelov, a Rosneft spokesman, declined to comment immediately.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said today that the country's biggest banks should get 950 billion rubles ($36 billion) of loans for five years to help unfreeze credit markets amid the country's biggest financial test since the 1998 default.

``We're talking about refinancing,'' Dolgov said, when asked how much the companies are seeking. ``So you have to look at who has how much'' debt.

Lukoil has $6.2 billion of bonds and loans it need to refinance, including $1.9 billion by the end of the year, Bloomberg data show.

Outstanding Debt

Gazprom has $60.4 billion in bonds and loans outstanding, the largest amount for any Russian company and more than the country's entire sovereign debt, including $6.1 billion by the end of the year, Bloomberg data show.

Rosneft has $9.3 billion of debt outstanding. TNK-BP's outstanding debt stands at $11.3 billion, including $1 billion due by the end of 2009, according to Bloomberg.

The move came as Russia's government pledged more cash for banks in a new bid to kick-start corporate lending amid the country's biggest financial test since the 1998 default.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Walters in Moscow gwalters1@bloomberg.netTorrey Clark in Moscow at tclark8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 7, 2008 11:30 EDT