SBE Sibir Energy

Sibir Energy PLC (SBE.LN), the troubled London-listed oil producer, said Monday it has reappointed Stuard Detmer as chief executive at the request of OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS), reversing a board decision taken last week.

The move - the latest in a running dispute over control of the Russia-focused oil company - signals a renewed struggle for power among government factions, as the state pushes to dominate the energy sector.

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Kremlin-controlled gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), moved Friday to take operational control of Sibir by appointing a company insider, Igor Tsibelman, as new CEO.

But Gazprom Neft - which has been buying up minority shares in Sibir Energy since April and is now the company's biggest shareholder with a 34% stake - reversed the move on Monday and is currently in talks with the remaining shareholders "to manage" Sibir Energy, the company's Chief Executive Alexander Dyukov said. The company would not elaborate.

The Moscow city government owns 18% of the company, while business tycoons Chalva Tchigirinsky and Igor Kesaev each hold 23.5% stakes.

The reshuffle could signal that the Moscow city government will once again try to block Gazprom Neft's efforts to control the Moscow refinery, which is jointly operated by Sibir Energy and Gazprom Neft.

The Moscow refinery, which refines over 200,000 barrels of oil a day and is one of the most modern in the country, is considered a strategic asset, as it supplies Moscow's lucrative gasoline market. Sibir also owns a network of retail gasoline stations in the Moscow area.

Yuri Luzhkov, Moscow's powerful mayor since 1992, has earlier criticized in public tycoon Roman Abramovich, former owner of Sibneft - now Gazprom Neft - of trying to take over the city's fuel market.

In October, investors began selling massively out of Sibir, which in June 2008 had been the biggest company on London's Alternative Investment Market, or AIM, after the company agreed to buy distressed real estate assets from key shareholder Tchigirinski. The Russian real estate tycoon had been threatened with numerous margin calls amid the country's worst economic crisis in a decade.

Trading in Sibir's shares has been suspended since February, after the company revealed Tchigirinski owed it $325 million.

A person close to Sibir Energy called the decision to reappoint Detmer "a matter of politics" and said Gazprom Neft still needs to consult the other major shareholders on the future development of the company.

"This isn't expected to be a long-term solution," the person told Dow Jones Newswires.

Gazprom Neft CEO Dyukov said Monday the company has no plans to raise its stake in Sibir and that a new CEO - possibly Tsibelman - is likely to be appointed in two to three weeks.

Dyukov explained the reappointment of Detmer by saying Sibir's board "was in a hurry to lay down responsibility." He is due to meet mayor Luzhkov on Wednesday for talks over the future development of Sibir. Analysts have said the Moscow government may not agree to Gazprom Neft buying a stake in Sibir and increasing its influence over the Moscow refinery.

Some analysts say they believe Gazprom Neft's ultimate goal is to get full control and eventually consolidate Sibir Energy, but say much depends on what will happen to the remaining shares.

Tchigirinski's and Kesaev's shares are currently held as loan collateral on unpaid loans by state lender OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), while Moscow City has said it won't sell its shares.

No one at the Moscow city government was immediately available for comment, while Sibir Energy declined to comment.

Sibir Energy operates the Salym oil fields in Western Siberia on a 50:50 basis with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA).

Company Web site: www.sibirenergy.com

-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937 8445; jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com

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