March 4 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas company, reiterated its $7.6 billion proposal to buy OAO Rosneft, Russia's state-owned oil company, rejecting Rosneft's statement yesterday objecting to a key part of President Vladimir Putin's plan cements control of the energy industry.

Gazprom stands by Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller's March 2 statement it will buy all of Rosneft except for a former OAO Yukos Oil Co. unit to be spun off, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said last night. He said ``technical errors'' may have misled investors after Interfax said the Rosneft statement was sent by mistake, citing an unidentified person close to Rosneft's board.

Kupriyanov today declined to comment. Rosneft spokesman Vladimir Voyevoda wasn't answering his telephone when called today by Bloomberg. Putin's press office declined to comment.

Rosneft's statement exposed frictions among Putin backers. Rosneft CEO Sergei Bogdanchikov, who joined the Soviet oil industry in 1981, is pitted against Miller, picked by Putin in 2001 to restore control of Gazprom, Russia's biggest company by sales.

``Yesterday's development bordered on the absurd, and will likely put off investors,'' Adam Landes, a London-based for brokerage Renaissance Capital, wrote today in a note to clients.

Gazprom shares advanced 0.5 percent to 81.58 rubles

Putin in September said Gazprom would buy Rosneft, lifting Russia's stake in the gas producer above 50 percent and allowing foreign investors to own more of Gazprom.

That transaction stalled after Rosneft bought Yuganskneftegaz in December for $9.3 billion, an asset the government seized last year as the culmination of attacks on Yukos. Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Yukos's main shareholder and former CEO, is in prison as he stands trial on fraud and tax charges that he says are political.

Joint Appearance

Miller and Rosneft CEO Bogdanchikov appeared on NTV television together March 2 as Miller said Gazprom would take over Rosneft and that Bogdanchikov would head OAO Yuganskneftegaz, Rosneft's largest unit, which would become a separate company.

Rosneft in a statement yesterday said Gazprom would acquire only ``some'' of its assets and that some of Miller's statement ``doesn't correspond with reality.''

``We fully confirm the statements made by Alexei Miller in this televised interview and express our regret that technical errors resulted in Gazprom's investors and partners receiving incorrect information,'' Kupriyanov said yesterday in a statement e- mailed to news services.

Bogdanchikov never approved the statement from Rosneft that disputed the acquisition because he's away on vacation, Moscow- based Interfax news agency reported yesterday, citing the person close to Rosneft's board of directors.

Kommersant newspaper reported that Bogdanchikov had approved the statement and that the company's announcement wasn't made in error, citing unidentified Rosneft officials.

Economy Minister German Gref said last night in Moscow that the details of Gazprom's acquisition of Rosneft are still under discussion and will be completed within a week, Interfax reported. Gazprom won't acquire Yugansk, Interfax reported Gref as saying.

Rosneft will remain an autonomous entity in the first stage, and Gazprom management will decide whether and how to change its structure in the future, Gref told Interfax.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Teagarden in Moscow at mteagarden@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 4, 2005 03:05 EST