Gazprom Doubles Profit, Eyes Spending
Russian giant Gazprom’s 2018 profit increased by 104% year-on-year to rubles 1.456 trillion ($22.55bn), the company said April 29. Gazprom’s gas sales revenues rose, with exports up 32.65% on 2017 at rubles 2.95 trillion; and domestic sales of rubles 954mn, up 9%.
|
Sales (rubles mn) |
2018 |
Y/Y growth |
|
Refined products |
2,179,772 |
29% |
|
Crude oil and gas condensate |
734,953 |
36.1% |
|
Electricity and heat |
522,095 |
3.61% |
|
Gas transport |
225,673 |
-4% |
|
Gas export |
2,951,215 |
32.65% |
|
Domestic gas sales |
954,493 |
9% |
|
Other sales |
258,013 |
7.67% |
|
Total net sales |
8,224,177 |
20.4% |
Gazprom’s total gas export reached 243.3bn m3 in 2018, 1.3bn m3 more than the previous year, but the average sale price was $240/’000 m³, or one third more than 2017.
Europe imported 84.3% of Gazprom’s total exports and the rest of volume went to former Soviet Union members (38.1bn m³, up from 35bn m³ in 2o17). The company also sold 239.7bn m3 in domestic markets at an average price of $61.65/’000 m³. European spot gas prices are below $200/'000 m³ owing to plentiful LNG supplies.
Gazprom also said it plans to increase investment by more than 9% year-on-year to roubles 2.094 trillion ($32.95) in 2019. CEO Alexei Miller also announced Apr.28 that China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is demonstrating a “great interest” in increasing the Russian gas intake.
“Based on 2014 contract, we should deliver 38bn m3/yr through Power of Siberia, but at the end of November 2018, Gazprom and CNPC negotiated the possibility of 48bn m3/yr deliveries," Miller said. Gas demand in China is rising faster each year.
The Power of Siberia pipeline, which will carry gas to China, should be completed in late-2019, with 5bn m3 to flow via the route in 2020 and the volume would increase gradually to the contractual volume.
In 2019 Gazprom plans to invest $2.28bn in the Power of Siberia gas pipeline project, through which gas from fields in Eastern Siberia will be transported to the domestic market and exported to China. In 2018, investment in the Power of Siberia amounted to $3.39bn against $2.64bn in 2017.
“Gazprom has built over 99% of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. At the end of 2019, deliveries would start to China”, Gazprom Export’s general director Elena Burmistrova told investors in February 2019.