Net profit of BP’s Russian joint venture TNK-BP increased by 17 percent in 2010 to a record high of $5.8 billion (3.5 billion pounds) on the back of increasing production and oil prices, the company said on Tuesday.
Russia’s third-largest oil producer also said it sold a unit which held a licence for the huge Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia for 22.3 billion roubles (475 million pounds) to Russian energy group Gazprom.
TNK-BP, whose production in western Siberia accounts for around 60 percent of the company’s total oil output, said in a statement it plans to boost hydrocarbon extraction by 1.7 percent this year.
The group said its revenue rose to $44.6 billion in 2010 from $34.8 billion, thanks to a 28 percent increase in the Urals crude blend price as well as a production boost driven by the ramp-up of output from the Verkhnechonskoye and Uvat fields.
One of the company’s weakest points has been the downstream sector in Ukraine, where it registered a loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $20 million.
TNK-BP’s deputy chief executive Maxim Barsky told a news briefing the company will be forced to close the Lisichansk refinery in Ukraine if Kiev does not raise product import duties.
Shares in TNK-BP traded 0.4 percent lower as of 1230 GMT, while the broader market was down 0.6 percent.
Last month, Russia’s top oil company, Rosneft, said its 2010 net income jumped 64 percent to $10.7 billion.
