Russian energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday it would acquire state-owned oil company Rosneft in a stock swap expected to ultimately ease restrictions on foreign investment in the world's biggest natural gas producer

Russian energy giant Gazprom said Tuesday it would acquire state-owned oil company Rosneft in a stock swap expected to ultimately ease restrictions on foreign investment in the world's biggest natural gas producer. Gazprom shares surged 15 percent. Analysts welcomed the proposal, which gives the Russian government a controlling stake in Gazprom — a key condition for President Vladimir Putin's long-promised lifting of limitations on share ownership. "Soon we will have a large company, that in the future would be turned into a transnational company of world significance," Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said in comments carried Tuesday evening by the Interfax news agency. Foreigners now are barred from owning local stock in Gazprom, which is the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe and controls 10 percent of the world's natural gas reserves. While an estimated 6 percent to 8 percent of local Gazprom stock is owned by foreigners domestically through various indirect schemes, only 4.42 percent of the company's shares trades on foreign stock exchanges — at a considerable premium.