CANADA'S Bitech Petroleum, Fortum Oil & Gas of Finland and Argentina's YPF are joining forces to pursue oil, condensate and gas opportunities in the Timan-Pechora basin in northern Russia. Bitech and Fortum already operate fields in the region but want to go for larger licences in the promising undeveloped Timan-Pechora. Knut Furuheim, head of Russian business development at Fortum, said the three companies have not yet defined which projects to chase.