Russ Oil-Gas

MOSCOW, April 24, 2009 - (RIA Novosti) - Eni has closed the deal to sell a 20% stake in Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft to its parent company, Gazprom, for $4.2 billion, the Italian energy giant announced on Friday. The deal stipulated in a bilateral agreement signed between the two energy giants on April 7 gives Gazprom control of a total of 95.68% in its oil arm. Eni CEO Paolo Scaroni said earlier his company had bought the stake for $3.7 billion at an auction two years ago with a loan at an interest rate of 9.4%, which pushed the asset cost to a total $4.2 billion. Gazprom Neft, which handles exploration and production of oil and condensates, reported a 12% increase year-on-year in its U.S. GAAP net profit to $4.7 billion last year.