Rosneft ups high-octane gas exports 35% in Q2
MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Russian oil company Rosneft exported 230,000 tonnes of high-octane gasoline to countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States in the second quarter of this year, 35.3% more than in the preceding quarter, the company's US GAAP financial report says.
Sales were up 470% at 400,000 tonnes for the first half.
The company told Interfax that this strong growth was associated with the redirection of gasoline not meeting technical regulations from the domestic to foreign markets.
Oil exports increased 7.1% to 910,000 tonnes, fuel oil exports 13.9% to 3.4 million tonnes in the second quarter. First-half naphtha exports increased 12.1% to 1.76 million tonnes, but fuel oil sales abroad contracted 3.1% to 6.46 million tonnes. The export of low-octane gasoline increased 41.7% to 170,000 tonnes over the six months.
Exports of diesel fuel contracted 50.8% in the second quarter to 1.18 million tonnes and 19.4% in the first half to 3.58 million tonnes.
Sales revenues generated by oil-product exports to non-CIS countries increased 20.9% in Q2 from Q1 to $5.9 billion. An increase of 10.9% was associated with the sale of oil products from plants in Germany, not counting which sales were down 10.9% due to the redirection of oil-product sales to the domestic market. Sales revenues from oil products sent to non-CIS countries in the first half were up 51% year-on-year, driven by a 40.8% increase in average prices and a 7.2% increase in sales volume.
In the second quarter, sales revenues from oil products on the domestic market came to $3.833 billion, up 17.4% from the quarter before, which was associated with an average sales price of 8.6% and increased sales volume of 8.1%. "The increased sales volumes were due to increased deliveries to agricultural producers," the company said. Oil-product sales revenues on the domestic market in the first half were up 41.3% year-on-year, as average prices rose 31.2% and sales volume 7.6%. The increase in sales was due to greater demand for oil products on the domestic market.
On commodities exchanges, the company sold 1.05 million tonnes of oil products for $785 million in the second quarter, compared to 1.06 million tonnes for $689 million in the first quarter. Rosneft sold 2.11 million tonnes for $1.474 billion in the first half versus 1.65 million tonnes for $843 million in the same half last year.
As reported, the Russian government imposed a prohibitive duty on gasoline exports in an effort to combat a fuel crisis in the country. It was $408.3 per tonne in May, $415.8 per tonne in June. The government also put a $415.8 prohibitive duty on naphtha in June. The duty on gasoline was $400.5 per tonne in July, $394.4 in August.
As per the current technical regulations, since January 1 Ai-95 gasoline lower than Euro-3 standard may not be sold in the country, and Ai-92 gasoline lower than Euro-3 standard may not be traded in starting next month. A transition to Euro-4 standard gasoline and diesel fuel is slated for 2014, and to Euro-5 product in 2015. However, the fuel shortage that arose when a number of refineries fell behind in their modernization schedules caused the government to suggest extending the regulations on the sale of Euro-2 gasoline to December 31, 2012. A decision has yet to be made on this.
