Moscow: Defying US sanctions, top Russian oil producer Rosneft on Thursday reported a 13 percent increase in half-year net profit to 432 billion rubles ($7.22 billion). Russian oil companies have faced Western sanctions after an attack on Ukraine that disrupted Russia’s global trade and trading system. According to a report by news agency Reuters, Rosneft Chief Executive Igor Sechin said in a statement that the company has managed to perform well despite unprecedented pressure from adverse external factors and illegal sanctions.
Since the start of a special military operation by Moscow in Ukraine on 24 February, Russia has seen Western investments leave the country. In this episode, British oil company BP announced in February that it was giving up its 19.75 percent stake in Rosneft, worth $25 billion. Due to the departure of BP, it was believed that the Russian oil company may have suffered heavy losses. However, Rosneft saw profits despite the sanctions, due to a 5.7% increase in oil sales in the January-June period. Also, the debt of the company has also reduced by 12% compared to the beginning of the year.
Cheap oil is the big reason
Despite the embargo, Russia offered to give its oil to big countries like India and China at cheap prices. Also, after the rise of the dollar, Russia had given the facility to transact with these countries in the national currency itself, due to which many countries bought oil without giving dollars. Also, the sanctions did not have much effect on Russia. Let us tell you that Rosneft produced up to 4.85 million barrels of oil per day in the first half, an increase of 1.5% from the year-ago period.
