Rosneft boosts Q1 net profit on higher prices and production

Moscow, May 15 - Neftegaz.RU. Rosneft, reported a higher net income in the Q1 compared to both the Q4 of 2018 and Q1 2018, thanks to higher oil prices and the depreciation of the Russian ruble against the U.S. dollar, Oilprice reported.

Rosneft’s net income in Q1 2019 in rubles jumped by 61.7 % year on year, to $2 billion (131 billion Russian rubles), mostly attributable to higher operating profit and a foreign exchange gain.

Revenues jumped by 20.6 % on the year in rubles, thanks to higher volumes of crude oil and petroleum products sales, which grew by 7.6 %, and to the rise in crude oil prices in rubles, up 12.7 % on the year, on the back of the Russian currency depreciation.

“Despite the volatility and quarterly decrease in oil prices, the decline in oil production under the OPEC+ Agreement and the Agreement on stabilization of prices for petroleum products on the domestic market, in Q1 2019 the Company demonstrated healthy financial performance in terms of both earnings growth and strong free cash flow generation,” Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s CEO, said in a statement.

Despite the OPEC+ agreement, Rosneft’s production rose in the Q1 of this year compared to Q1 2018, the company said in a separate press release.

Rosneft’s Q1 2019 liquids production amounted to 4.74 million bpd, up by 3.9 % from the Q1 of 2018, due to active development of greenfields and production ramp-up at several brownfields.

Due to the compliance with Russia’s pledge in the OPEC+ production cut deal, however, Rosneft’s output declined by 1 % in Q1 2019 compared to Q4 2018.

Rosneft, which alongside other Russian companies is said to be reluctant to continue to cut production after June, said that it could “promptly” raise production if restrictions are eased.

“The Company has substantial potential to promptly increase production on the back of flexible well stock and well operations management approaches. In case of external restrictions ease the Company is able to secure over 4.8 mmbbl of average daily liquids production in Russia by the year-end,” Rosneft said.


Author: Tsvetana Paraskova