French utility GDF Suez (GSZ.FR) Tuesday said it has signed, in partnership with oil major Total SA (TOT), a heads of agreement to acquire half of KazMunaiGas' 50% stake in the Caspian Sea Khvalinskoye exploration license.

"This exclusive negotiation phase, subject to relevant partners' and authorities' approvals, will allow GDF Suez and Total to obtain respectively 8% and 17% in the Khvalinskoye development," GDF Suez said.

A spokeswoman for GDF Suez declined to say how much the companies would pay for the stake.

Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.RS) operates the Russian-Kazakh project, in which it has 50%.

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171756; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com