Gazprom to Reinforce Its Oil Base By Taking Over Sibneft for USD 13.5 Bil

Gazprom (Russia), natural gas giant, will reinforce its oil base by taking over the oil concern Sibneft (Russia) for USD 13.5 bil in 2005. So far 98% of Gazprom’s production has been based on natural gas. After the takeover, the share of gas in its economics will drop to 90% and the share of crude oil will rise to 10%. Large world concerns such as ExxonMobil (USA), BP (UK) and Shell (UK) have more than 50% of their mining activities based on crude oil. Gazprom would get to a share like this in case it took control over all oil exploration in Russia, which is unlikely. Gazprom has a stock- exchange value of USD 120 bil. This is similar to Chevron (USA), which has USD 135 bil, but little compared to the world’s number one in the sector Exxon (USA) with USD 413 bil.