OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS), the oil arm of Russian gas monopoly OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), Monday said its 2008 first-quarter net profit more than doubled on the year, pushed up by a favorable price environment and higher exposure to refining.
Net profit for the first three months of the year, under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, rose to $1.41 billion from $672 million in the same period of 2007.
Revenue rose 90% to $7.87 billion from $4.14 billion, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, grew 84% to $1.92 billion from $1.04 billion.
In the first quarter, Gazprom Neft incorporated its contribution from Tomskneft for the first time. It bought a 50% stake in Tomskneft last year. The company didn't specify how much the subsidiary contributed to earnings, but said Tomskneft accounted for 11% of the company's total crude supply to the market in the first quarter.
Gazprom Neft, Russia's fifth largest oil producer, plans to boost output and grow its reserves considerably in the coming years in order to become one of the world's largest oil companies.
Earlier this month, Alexei Miller, the company's chairman, who is also the chief executive of Gazprom, pledged to make Gazprom Neft the country's leading oil producer and to turn the company into a "large international player."
According to the company's strategy plan running to 2020, which it approved early this year, it expects to boost crude production to 100 million metric tons a year, or around 2 million barrels a day. By 2020 the company aims increase its refining volume to between 70 million tons and 80 million tons a year and have 5,500 petrol stations.
Gazprom Neft has been fighting declining production since its acquisition by Gazprom from billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2005. Last year, the company posted daily output of 653,900 barrels.