Novatek enjoys 6% bump in gas output in Q1
Gas production at Russia's Novatek climbed 5.6% year on year to 20.15bn m3 on the first quarter, the LNG exporter reported on April 12.
The company also enjoyed a 2.7% growth in liquids output to 3.13mn metric tons, bringing its overall hydrocarbon output to 1.76mn barrels of oil equivalent/day, up 6.4% yr/yr.
Novatek's gas sales in Russia were up 7.2% at 19.56bn m3 while international sales were down 23.7% at 1.87bn m3. Rather than reflecting market developments, the decline in international volumes can be explained by the fact that Novatek bought and re-sold more gas from the Yamal LNG project on a spot basis in early 2020, as some long-term supply contracts had not yet come into force. These long-term contracts are directly between buyers and Yamal LNG, rather than its shareholders, and Novatek does not consolidate the project's sales results with its own.