MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom saw profits rise over the first nine months of 2013 as increased sales helped lift revenue, said Upstreamonline.
Profit for the nine months to 30 September totalled 876.3 billion rubles (USD25.7 billion), compared to the 846.6 billion ruble profit booked during the same period a year earlier.
The increased profits came as sales revenue rose to nearly 3.8 trillion rubles, up from nearly 3.4 trillion rubles during the first nine months of 2012.
Helping lift revenue was an increase in the sale of gas to Europe and other countries which generated more than 1.2 trillion rubles, up 15% from just under 1.1 trillion rubles generated at the same point the previous year, based on the 126.8 billion cubic feet of gas sold in the region.
Gazprom also generated 6% more revenue on the sale of gas in to the domestic market, bringing in nearly 28.7 billion rubles over the nine-month period, as an increase in the average domestic gas price offset a 7% fall in sales volumes year-on-year, from 183.3 Bcm to 170.8 Bcm.
These factors helped offset a 25% fall in revenue from the sale of gas to Former Soviet Union countries which brought in 289.7 billion rubles on the 42.2 Bcm of gas sold.
Gazprom attributed the fall in revenue in the region to a lower volume of gas sold compared to a year earlier and a fall in average prices in rubles terms.
As MRC wrote before, Beijing hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Zhou Jiping, Chairman of China National Petroleum Corporation. The meeting participants addressed the issues of Russian natural gas supply to the Chinese market via the eastern route. Both parties are interested in successful completion of the negotiations and looking forward to signing a contract as soon as possible.
Gazprom is a global energy company. Its major business lines are geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power.
MRC