Gazprom to Buy Sibneft Stake for $13.01B

Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom struck a deal Wednesday to pay $13.01 billion for control of the private Sibneft oil company, consolidating the government’s grip over the strategic energy industry.

The biggest purchase in Russian corporate history will give President Vladimir Putin’s administration authority over about a third of the nation’s crude oil output — a total that has soared since the Yukos oil giant was largely renationalized last year.

..The deal will realize Gazprom’s long-held aim of expanding further into oil production. The world’s largest natural gas producer, long groomed as a state energy giant to rival Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, came under state control in June when the government raised its stake above 50 percent.

Newsday