OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2009. Russia’s gas output rose 8% QoQ in 3Q09, amounting 131bcm. Nevertheless, gas production for the period January-September 2009 was 18.3% lower YoY, amounting to 405.2 bcm, reported the press-centre of OTKRITIE FC.

View: In 3Q09, Gazprom’s output grew 10.3% (QoQ). The Russian gas monopoly extracted 102.59bcm in 3Q09, making it the principal driver of Russia’s 8% QoQ growth in aggregate domestic gas production. In September Gazprom’s natural gas output soared 7% MoM to 35.97bcm. We believe that such strong results reflected consumer demand recovery, both foreign and domestic.

Nevertheless, Gazprom’s gas production for 9M09 amounted to only 319bcm, a 23% drop compared with the year-earlier period. NOVATEK also posted robust operating results in 3Q09, having raised natural gas output by 7.6% QoQ to 7.84bcm, though in September its incremental production was moderate compared with Gazprom. In 9M09 NOVATEK produced 23.7bcm (+4.3% YoY).

Action: We read this news as neutral both for Gazprom and NOVATEK.