MOSCOW, November 18 (Sputnik) — Chief executives of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and Germany's chemical company BASF met in Ludwigshafen, Germany to discuss the progress of an asset swap deal, Gazprom's press office said Tuesday.
"It was stressed that the strengthening of the companies' positions in the entire [gas] production chain will help secure gas deliveries to end buyers," Gazprom said in a statement.
Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Chairman of the BASF Board of Directors Kurt Bock praised the partnership on the development of the Urengoi and Yuzhno-Russkoye oil and gas fields, as well as the increased capacity of underground storage sites in Europe.
In 2013, the companies agreed to swap assets of equivalent value between Gazprom and BASF's energy subsidiary Wintershall. The deal is to be closed by the end of 2014, with the Russian energy producer gaining 100 percent of the WINGAS, WIEE and WIEH, joint ventures it set up with Wintershall. Gazprom will also acquire EU's largest underground gas storage facility and a 50 percent stake in Wintershall Nordsee.
In return, Wintershall will receive 25 percent plus one share in Gazprom's two projects for the development of the Achimov gas deposits at the Urengoy field, which is estimated to hold around 274 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
