Russian oil giant Lukoil has posted strong results for fiscal 2006, with net income up 16.2% year-on-year to almost $7.5 billion. In addition, the company's revenue from sales rose by 21.4% to reach $67.7 billion.
Lukoil has attributed the increase in net income to favorable market conditions, a 12.2% increase in marketable hydrocarbon production, increased refinery throughputs, cost control, and growth in refining margins.
Lukoil revealed that production of petroleum products at its refineries in 2006 increased by 3.4% over 2005. While Lukoil’s domestic refineries increased petroleum product output by 6.1% in this period, output from the company’s foreign refineries decreased by 7.7% due to closure of the Odessa refinery for upgrading.
Lukoil sold 126.7 million tons of crude oil and petroleum products in 2006, representing an increase of 2.8% over 2005. While domestic sales of crude oil grew by a staggering 171.3% over 2005, to 1.8 million tons, international sales of crude oil decreased by 10.7%. Meanwhile, petroleum product sales rose by 9.5% over 2005 to 83.9 million tons and, in the same period, retail sales of petroleum products in Russia increased by 12.6%.
In addition, Lukoil said that its production of marketable gas was 13,612 million cubic meters, or 141.6% higher than in 2005. The company said that this growth was due to the increase in natural gas production at the Nakhodkinskoye field.