OREANDA-NEWS. The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Gazprom Neft, at which the 2015 Annual Report and Accounts were approved, took place in St Petersburg on 10 June 2016.

The company’s 2015 year-end results confirm its position as a market leader in the oil and gas industry, based on key performance indicators including operating profit and return on average capital employed (ROACE).

Gazprom Neft produced 79.7 million tonnes of hydrocarbons in 2015, increasing production volumes by more than 20 percent year-on-year and demonstrating the greatest production growth in the Russian oil industry. The company continued its development of the Prirazlomnoye project — currently the only project on the Russian Arctic Shelf — as well as the full-scale development of Messoyakha fields, while completing the installation of the Arctic Gates terminal, designed to ensure the year-round shipment of oil from the Novoportovskoye field, and commissioning the Yuzho-Priobskiy gas processing plant.

Refining volumes at Gazprom Neft facilities totalled 43.1 million tonnes. The company continued its fulfilment of the second phase of major modernisation programme throughout its refining assets, directed at improving refining depth and increasing production of light hydrocarbons. Construction of biological treatment facilities “Biosfera” was initiated at the Moscow Refinery under one of the company’s most important environmental initiatives, and a new gas fractionation unit brought into production. Major refurbishment of a crude oil distillation unit and a deep conversion unit were completed at the Omsk Refinery.

Downward market trends notwithstanding, sales volumes of Gazprom Neft oil products in marginal sectors maintained 2014 levels, at 25.7 million tonnes. In addition to this, market share in premium retail channels increased, with sales volumes of petroleum products through the company’s filling station network increasing 2.5 percent.

Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov commented: “The company ended last year showing unprecedented growth in production and demonstrating significant resilience in key areas of its operational and financial performance. External challenges notwithstanding, Gazprom Neft continued the implementation of new projects in both production and refining throughout 2015, working towards greater operational efficiency and the development and implementation of its own bespoke new technologies.

In 2016 we will continue to focus on further improving operational activities, improving efficiency in business processes in order to remain competitive and remain ahead of the curve in a changing macroeconomic environment. The security and experience gained since the company’s establishment, together with a powerful technological base and a balanced asset portfolio mean we can face the future with confidence and remain on course to achieve the key objectives under the company’s long-term development strategy.”

Based on the company’s performance in 2015 Gazprom Neft shareholders supported the Board’s recommendation to pay dividends in the amount of 28 percent of net profit (IFRS), amounting to RUB30.7 billion or RUB6.47 per ordinary share (2015 half-year dividends having been taken into account).