OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) Wednesday agreed an asset swap with Germany 's BASF SE (BAS.XE) that industry analysts said will likely help the Russian gas giant avoid a repeat of winter supply disruptions that have occurred in recent years.

After the swap, Gazprom will take 100% ownership of the gas trading and storage joint venture in Germany and Austria it has operated with BASF unit Wintershall since 1993. Gazprom will also receive a 50% stake in North Sea gas and oil exploration and production company Wintershall Noordzee BV .

BASF will receive two blocks of a natural gas field in Western Siberia , with an expected production capacity of 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas. Production is expected to start there in 2016.

In all, Gazprom is taking command of companies that generated 8.6 billion euros ($10.93 billion) in sales last year.

Full control of the trading and storage venture will give Gazprom more flexibility in maintaining supplies into Western Europe by adjusting to spikes in demand that can occur in sudden cold spells, analysts said.

"Increasing our stake in gas trading and storage enterprises will allow us to continue our successful efforts to ensure a reliable supply of gas to Europe ," said Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller.

Disputes over pricing and allegations of illegal siphoning of gas have twice disrupted Russian gas supplies for Europe shipped through Ukraine in the last decade, most recently in 2009. A severe cold spell in February of this year led to shortfalls across Eastern Europe as domestic gas demand in Russia hit record highs.

Gazprom has worked steadily at stabilizing its supply of gas to Europe . It completed deals this month with a number of Eastern European countries to build the $20.5 billion South Stream pipeline. The project, which will bring gas directly from Russia into Southern Europe under the Black Sea , bypassing Ukraine , aims to be operational by 2015. It will deliver 63 billion cubic meters of gas a year, representing about 14% of EU consumption.

Gazprom is already operating another pipeline, called Nord Stream, which runs under the Baltic Sea and will eventually be able to deliver 55 billion cubic meters a year of gas into northern Germany .

Analysts say the asset swap lets Gazprom store gas closer to its customers in Europe . "It will facilitate gas sales to Europe and make the market more stable," said Sberbank Investment Research's Valery Nesterov.

More stable supply will likely lead to fewer big moves in gas prices, and "protect Gazprom from criticism over gas pricing and unevenness in supply that it has come under in the past," Mr. Nesterov said.

The BASF deal comes as Gazprom is subject to an antitrust probe by the European Commission into whether it has broken antimonopoly rules by imposing unfair gas prices through contracts linked to oil prices, or prevented countries from diversifying their gas supplies. Gazprom denies these charges.

The deal is subject to approval by regulators and the companies said in a joint statement they expect it to be completed by the end of 2013.

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