Rosneft to Replace Gazprom as Energy Driver on TNK Deal

OAO Rosneft’s proposed acquisition of TNK-BP will accelerate the state oil company’s eclipse of OAO Gazprom as the dominant force in Russia’s energy industry.

President Vladimir Putin used Gazprom, the world’s biggest natural gas producer, to assert Russia’s energy power during the past decade, winning pipeline deals and controlling former Soviet allies. With the U.S. shale-gas boom and domestic competition, Gazprom is losing ground as Rosneft, run by Putin’s ally Igor Sechin, dominates the country’s oil output.