OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it raised its long-term corporate credit rating on Russian gas company OAO Gazprom to 'BBB' from 'BBB-', following its review of government influence on a number entities related to the government of the Russian Federation (foreign currency BBB+/Stable/A-2; local currency A-/Stable/A-2; Russia national scale 'ruAAA'). The outlook is stable.

At the same time, Standard & Poor's affirmed its 'BB+' long-term corporate credit and 'ruAA+' Russia national scale ratings on Gazprom's 76% subsidiary, JSC Gazprom Neft. The outlook is now positive.

All ratings were removed from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with positive implications on Nov. 15 and 16, 2006, together with the ratings on several other Russian government-related entities (GREs).