A weak rouble has helped to boost profits for Gazprom.
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The weak currency counterbalanced a 10 per cent fall in the volume of sales, which was mainly due to sanctions imposed by the West.
Last year, Washington slapped sanctions on an Arctic project that state-owned Russian oil major Rosneft planned to develop with US oil major ExxonMobil, effectively forcing the two companies to suspend drilling despite the discovery of oil.
The net profit of 382bn rubles ($5.9bn) compared with 223bn rubles in the first quarter of 2014, the company said in a statement.
“Gazprom gas is attractive for European customers now ahead of the winter season”, said Alexander Kornilov, an analyst at Alfa Bank in Moscow.
Gazprom acknowledged that the result was partly attributable to the “increase in average prices in rouble terms”. Most of Gazprom’s costs are in the battered Russian currency, while most of its revenues are in dollars or euros.
The ruble lost about half of its value as Western sanctions over the Kremlin’s perceived role in the Ukraine conflict kept biting.
Yuzhno-Kirinskoye was seen as key to expansion of the Gazprom-led Sakhalin-2 LNG plant, co-developed with Royal Dutch Shell, Japan Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp.
Business is still suffering as slumping oil prices, linked to rates Gazprom charges for its gas exports, smother profit.
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Gazprom, which saw net profit at 223 billion roubles in the same period a year ago, was expected to post 348 billion roubles in January-March. Revenue was up 6% to RUB1.65 trillion despite a 10% fall in sales volume as the average price of foreign sales soared as the ruble weakened. Gazprom may cut its production to a record this year as demand slows in Russian Federation and Ukraine, the government said in July.
