Former BP boss named chairman of DEA after sale to Russian tycoon

* Lord John Browne heads DEA's supervisory board

* LetterOne co-owners Fridman, Khan also join

* Unit changes name to DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG

FRANKFURT, March 3 (Reuters) - DEA, the oil andgas company that German utility RWE sold to Russianbillionaire Mikhail Fridman, has appointed former BP bossJohn Browne as its new supervisory board chairman.

Fridman's investment vehicle LetterOne bought the firm fromRWE in a 5.1 billion euro ($5.7 billion) deal finalised onMonday, brushing aside British opposition against the sale ofsome licences held by DEA in the North Sea.

The transaction was first announced a year ago, coincidingwith Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukrainecrisis, sparking concern in some EU countries about whether aEuropean oil and gas business should fall into Russian hands.

Britain said at the weekend that the deal's structure didnot alleviate concerns that any possible future sanctionsagainst LetterOne's owners, which include Fridman and GermanKhan, could negatively affect production.

Browne, who served as chief executive of BP from 1995 to2007, was hired this week by LetterOne to head its energydivision.

"In DEA, we have acquired a company with long history oftechnical and managerial excellence, a track record ofimaginative thinking, an international outlook, and greatpotential," Browne said in a statement.

"DEA fits perfectly into our investment strategy."

DEA said that Fridman and fellow billionaire Khan had alsojoined DEA's supervisory board, adding the group would changeits name from RWE Dea AG to DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG, the name ithad carried between 1911-1970.

Employing 1,440 staff, DEA is active in 17 countries andholds around 160 exploration and production licences as anoperator and as a partner.

It said it was preparing a review of its corporate strategy,but did not provide further details.

($1 = 0.8958 euros)

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Pravin Char)