Rosneft profit soars 51% thanks to booming gas output

Russia’s oil giant Rosneft reported on Tuesday a 51-percent jump in annual profit thanks to a huge boost in natural gas output that made it the country’s third-largest producer of blue fuel.

The state-held firm — the world’s largest publically-traded oil company by both productions and reserves — said its 2013 net income reached 551 billion rubles ($15.6 billion, 11.5 billion euros).

The company said its total hydrocarbon production grew by 80.3 percent thanks to a 132.9-percent leap in natural gas output.

“The 2013 performance has made Rosneft the third-largest gas producer in Russia with increased gas production to 38.17 billion cubic metres,” the company said in a report.