The oil producer Rosneft became Russia’s most valuable company as its market capitalization of $51.7b in April exceeded that of natural-gas exporter Gazprom at the level of $51.5b for the first time since its shares began trading in 2006, Bloomberg reported.

Both state-run giants have been at the center of Russia’s economy and political system since President Vladimir Putin used the country’s oil and gas wealth to drive growth from the chaos of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Crude producer Rosneft has narrowed Gazprom’s lead from more than $250b in 2008 as it expanded through acquisitions, while the gas company has faced rising competition at home and tumbling prices abroad. However, as Seeking Alpha added, Gazprom still dwarfs Rosneft by production at approximately 8mboe/d as compared to Rosneft’s 5mboe/d.