* EU Commission says no competition concerns
* Says no conditions required
* $55 bln deal is one of the biggest in the sector
By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS, March 8 (Reuters) - Russian oil producer Rosneft moved closer to finalising its $55 billion takeover ofTNK-BP <TNBP.MM after winning EU regulatory approval for one ofthe biggest deals in the sector.
State-owned Rosneft is buying TNK-BP from private Russiangroup AAR and British oil company BP in two separatedeals that will help it leapfrog world No. 1 Exxon Mobil.
Reuters last week reported the European Commission wasexpected to give unconditional approval.
The EU antitrust authority said in a statement that itsinvestigation did not find any competition concerns.
"The merged entity would continue to face constraints from anumber of strong competitors, while its customers would becapable of switching both to other suppliers as well as to othermeans of transportation for their crude oil demands," it said.
The EU executive said it had also examined Rosneft's stateownership status to see if it was an independent operator orwhether there was scope for Russia to coordinate the behaviourof state-owned companies in the sector.
"This question was ultimately left open as the proposedacquisition did not give rise to competition concerns," it said.
BP (BP.)