Wintershall Sees Asset Swap Deal with Gazprom Going Through

Wintershall, the oil and gas exploration arm of chemicals group BASF, expects an asset swap deal with Russia's Gazprom to close as planned in mid-year 2014, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The non-cash deal, agreed in 2012, will give Gazprom greater access to gas trading and storage in Germany, while Wintershall will get more access to Siberian gas fields.

"The implementation of the transaction is expected for mid-2014 (expressly under consideration of the latest political developments around the conflict in Ukraine) and will be backdated to April 1, 2013," she said in a statement.

BASF and Gazprom signed final contracts for the transaction in December 2013.

The statement followed an enquiry from Reuters after Russia's decision on Monday to cut gas supplies to Ukraine over a pricing dispute, which led western European partners to raise questions about Russia's role and reputation as a key energy supplier to the region.

An unrelated transaction, the sale of utility RWE's oil and gas unit DEA to a group of investors led by Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman, is being investigated under a foreign trade law, the German Economy Ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry, in rare use of a clause in the law, cited possible threats to "public safety and order," but stressed the investigation was open-ended.

As for the planned Wintershall-Gazprom transaction, the ministry has in the past taken a relaxed stance.

A parliamentary state secretary at the Economy Ministry in April said the deal gave no cause to interfere because gas storage operators in Germany had to obey local laws on energy supply security.

Wintershall is also involved with South Stream, a new pipeline project for Russian gas under the Black Sea into Bulgaria and on to central Europe, disputed by Brussels officials who worry about over-reliance on Russia.

Wintershall has a 15 percent stake in the South Stream Transport consortium, which is responsible for the offshore part of the pipeline.

(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by David Evans)