Moscow - Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, had agreed to purchase the Sibneft oil firm for $13.01 billion (R83.7 billion), the companies announced yesterday.
The deal will significantly further state-controlled Gazprom's stature in the oil sector as President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin moves to recapture state influence in the lucrative energy industry.
The companies said an agreement was signed between Gazprom and Sibneft's owner, Millhouse Capital, a holding company controlled by billionaire Roman Abramovich. The deal provided for Gazprom to buy 72.663 percent of Sibneft shares.
The purchase will be the biggest in Russian history.
The acquisition will give Putin's government control of as much as 30 percent of the crude oil pumped in Russia, the world's second-largest supplier. Gazprom already has the world's largest natural gas reserves and is the biggest foreign gas supplier to Europe.
Gazprom will pay $3.80 a share for the stake, according to Bloomberg calculations based on a statement of the stake size and total price.
Buying Sibneft will more than quadruple Gazprom's crude oil output to 1.17 million barrels a day. The Kremlin controls another 1.5 million barrels a day through state-owned Rosneft.
Russia's five-year oil boom is stalling after the government raised tax rates and used $28 billion in back-tax claims to dismantle Yukos Oil, the country's biggest oil exporter, last year.
Russia's oil production increased 1.2 percent in July from the year-ago period, the slowest pace this year, as higher taxes and tighter state control made companies reluctant to spend more on production.
In addition to crude production, Gazprom's refining capacity will rise almost sixfold. Sibneft will bring about 910 000 barrels of daily oil production under Kremlin control, representing about $50 million a day in revenue.
Gazprom last week asked to borrow as much as $12 billion, Russia's biggest loan, to fund the purchase. ABN Amro Holding and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein arranged the package.
At the start of last year, the Russian government controlled only about 7 percent of the nation's crude oil production. Its first asset grab came when Rosneft bought the biggest unit of Yukos, Yuganskneftegaz.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller told shareholders in June that he planned to build the world's biggest energy supplier, from oil and gas to electricity.
-From Sapa-AP and Bloomberg