MOSCOW (AP) — Russian state-controlled natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom and state-controlled oil giant OAO Rosneft signed a wide-ranging cooperation deal Tuesday that calls for new joint ventures to bid for hydrocarbon production licenses and other forms of coordination.

The two companies said in a statement that Gazprom would buy natural gas from Rosneft at levels at least equal to its gas production this year at western Siberian fields that are already connected to Gazprom's pipeline network.

Additional agreements will be necessary for Gazprom to purchase gas from Rosneft's fields beyond that area, the companies said.

"In line with agreements reached, Rosneft and Gazprom will develop cooperation in prospecting, producing, transporting and processing crude hydrocarbon resources, and purchasing and selling natural and associated gas," the companies said in a joint statement.

Under the cooperation agreement, which extends through 2015, the two companies said they would jointly participate in tenders for oil and gas licenses and form prospecting and production joint ventures on a parity basis.

Both companies in recent years have consolidated control in the energy industry, signing exclusive distribution deals, buying up production companies and squeezing foreign-run energy projects in Russia.

Many analysts have said the moves are part of a Kremlin-orchestrated drive to get complete authority over the nation's vast oil and gas resources.