OAO Rosneft acquired full control of OOO Itera, an independent natural gas producer and trader, buying the remaining 49% for $2.9 billion as the country’s biggest oil company expands.

“Gas business is one of the top priorities,” Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said in a statement on July 2. The deal will boost growth and “will ultimately increase the total capitalization.”

State-controlled Rosneft is challenging OAO Gazprom, the world’s biggest gas producer, with plans to double its share of the domestic market and sell LNG to Asia. President Vladimir Putin has called for the government to loosen Gazprom’s monopoly with a gradual liberalization of LNG exports.

The price of the 49% stake “implies that Itera alone was valued at $1.40/boe of reserves,” Luis Saenz, head of equities at Russian brokerage BCS Financial Group, said by email. That compares with $3.80 per barrel of oil equivalent of reserves for Rosneft, he said. “This is value enhancing.”

Rosneft and Itera last year teamed up to produce and sell gas, with the oil producer acquiring 51% of the joint venture in exchange for the Kynsko-Chaselsk field and $173.4 million in cash.

Rosneft shares rose 0.5% to 230.49 rubles at 2:43 p.m. in Moscow, the highest level on a closing basis since June 25.

Copyright 2013 Bloomberg.

Anna Shiryaevskaya

www.bloomberg.com