Revenue jumps from Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft

May 29 (UPI) -- Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft said its first quarter revenue jumped 14.5 percent year-on-year, while production increased 1.1 percent.

The company is the oil-producing arm of state-controlled Gazprom. In a report on the first three months of the year, the company said net production, including its share in joint ventures, was around 160 million barrels of oil equivalent, an increase of 1.1 percent from the same period last year.

For revenue, the $8.3 billion for the first three months of the year marked a 14.5 percent increase year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was $1.1 billion, a 12.4 percent increase from last year.

"This growth was achieved through the successful development of new projects in hydrocarbon production, higher retail sales, and a recovery in market conditions," the company's statement read.

Russia is party to an effort led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to erase a surplus from the five-year average in crude oil stocks held by the world's advanced economies. That effort helped pull out prices from historic lows in early 2016.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak has signaled compliance with an arrangement now in its second year could ease in the second half of the year. After skimming the $80 per barrel mark, the price for Brent crude oil has traded closer to $75 per barrel since Novak's announcement last week. That's still an improvement over the $52.25 per barrel at this point last year.

Russia relies heavily on oil and gas revenue to support its economy and has seen incremental gains in production over the year.

Gazprom Neft in February discovered a new field in the Orenburg oblast, a federal district north of Kazakhstan with a reserve estimate of more than 80 million barrels of oil reserves. Initial reserves were discovered two years ago and Gazprom Neft said the latest find confirms expectations of a license area consisting of several smaller fields.