One of Russia's largest oil companies becomes unprofitable - Media
Illustrative photo: One of Russia's largest oil companies has become unprofitable, according to media reports (Getty Images)
One of Russia’s largest oil companies, Surgutneftegaz, has likely suffered a massive loss. The company’s management has decided to keep its financial statements confidential, The Moscow Times reports.
According to the news agency, in its latest reports, Surgutneftegaz only disclosed revenue, cost of sales, commercial and administrative expenses, and income from its subsidiaries. However, the company’s long-term and short-term loans, asset volume, cash reserves, and even charter capital were marked as "confidential."
Nevertheless, available information indicates that the company’s net profit for the half-year decreased sixfold, to 139.9 billion rubles, while pre-tax profit was 168.7 billion rubles, also down sixfold.
Interestingly, Surgutneftegaz has been hiding its owners for several decades. At the same time, the company accumulated foreign currency reserves without investing them anywhere. Before the full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, Surgutneftegaz had around $50 billion in reserves.
Surgutneftegaz is one of the largest oil companies in Russia, founded in 1993. The company specializes in the extraction, refining, and sale of oil, as well as the production of petroleum products and natural gas. Its main assets are concentrated in Western Siberia, where rich oil fields are located. The company also controls several oil refineries and owns its own network of gas stations.
It is worth noting that Surgutneftegaz is the fourth-largest oil company in Russia by production volume and the largest by cash reserves.
Russia has classified official data on oil production
Russia has classified data on oil production amid Western sanctions over its war against Ukraine, leaving only a few indicators for observation—marine exports and domestic refineries.
Moscow has changed the way it provides data for OPEC+ assessments, complicating independent evaluations of production cuts. The Ministry of Energy now reports in barrels per day, using a lower-end tonne-barrel conversion factor than traditional values.
In July, Russian oil exports from major Western ports dropped to the lowest level in nearly 20 months. The most notable reduction was in supplies to China.
As of August 5, oil prices had fallen to a seven-month low, due to rising tensions in the Middle East.
