Oct 18 (Reuters) - China's Sinopec remains in close contact with Russia's top oil producer Rosneft as it continues to be interested in Russia's east Siberian oil and gas reserves, a company official told Reuters on Thursday.

"We are in a very close contact with Rosneft, and we take a special interest in east Siberian reserves," Liang Yanji, a director at Sinopec's Russia office told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Moscow.

Sinopec, which collaborates with Rosneft on Sakhalin-3 block, said in spring it will keep working in the Pacific island of Sakhalin, while also focusing on oil and gas exploration in east Siberia.

The company also owns small Russian oil firm Udmurtneft together with state-owned Rosneft, which has invited Sinopec as well as several other Chinese and Indian firms to jointly explore Russia's Arctic offshore. (Reporting By Olesya Astakhova; Writing by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya; Editing by Alison Birrane)