MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Hydrocarbons production grew 0.7% year-on-year to 5.2 mln barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in the first half of 2016, Russian oil major Rosneft reported on Thursday.
Growth of hydrocarbons production by 0.2% quarterly and 0.7% on an annualized basis was particularly supported by the increase in operation drilling by 16% on a quarterly basis and by 48% annually, the company said. "A new record of daily drilling rate equal to 40,300 m was set in June 2016 and over 1 mln m of rocks were drilled throughout the month on the whole," Rosneft said.
Newly commissioned wells grew by more than 50% year-on-year to 1,200. The share of horizontal wells remains about 30% in line with corporate plans, the company said.
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Rosneft’s hydrocarbon reserves were up 1.4% and reached 34.5 bln barrels of oil equivalent.
Rosneft also increased natural gas production by 6.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2016 to 33.2 bln cubic meters. "Natural gas production totaled 33.2 bln cubic meters in the first half of 2016, up 6.9% against the level in the first half of 2015," Rosneft said.
The company sold 1.5 bln cubic meters of natural gas on the exchange in the first half of the year. Rosneft also completed its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply in January - June 2016 within the framework of a contract with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company.
Rosneft produced 62.5 bln cubic meters of gas in 2015.
At the same time, Rosneft lowered oil production by 0.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2016 to 100.7 mln tonnes. This figure was 100.9 mln tonnes in the first half of 2015.
Oil and gas condensate production rose 0.5% on a quarterly basis in the second quarter of 2016 to 4.1 mln barrels per day. Yuganskneftegaz, RN-Severnaya Neft and Sakhalin-1 producing assets showed positive dynamics, Rosneft said.
The company’s oil and oil products deliveries to the domestic market rose by 1.4% year-on-year to 14.5 mln tonnes. "The company is a leading supplier of oil products to the domestic market: sales of oil products rose in the first half of 2016 by 1.4% year-on-year and amounted to 14.5 mln tonnes," Rosneft said.
Retail business of the company showed steady performance as of the end of the first half of 2016 despite the decline of economic activity in Russia, the company said.
Oil supplies in the eastern destination rose by 13.1% year-on-year to 21.6 mln tonnes in the first half of this year. "The company is successfully pursuing diversification of supplies between the western and the eastern directions. Reverse shipments eastward rose 13.1% year-on-year in the first half of 2016 to 21.6 mln tonnes," Rosneft said.
It was reported earlier Rosneft’s oil supplies in the eastern direction surged 18.5% year-on-year in 2015 to 39.7 mln tonnes.