MOSCOW: Gazprom said higher gas sales to Europe boosted its first-quarter revenue and it may export more to the region than expected this year because of lower Dutch gas output and limited shipments of liquefied natural gas from the United States.
Russia's Gazprom, the world's top gas producer, covers around a third of Europe's gas needs and planned to ship between 165-170 billion cubic metres (bcm) to Europe this year, up from about 159 bcm in 2015.
The EU has been trying to reduce its reliance on Russian gas amid tensions with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Gazprom on Wednesday posted a 5 percent increase in first-quarter revenue to 1.74 trillion roubles ($26.9 billion) year-on-year, due to higher gas sales to Europe in absolute terms and despite a fall in the gas price.
Since the US Sabine Pass LNG terminal started exporting gas this year, only 2 of 20 ships have departed for Europe - heading to Portugal and Spain - while the others have sailed to South America, the Middle East and Asia.
Gazprom posted net profit of 362.3 billion roubles in the first-quarter, slightly beating the average analyst forecast of 361.2 billion roubles.
In volume terms sales increased 49 percent to 58.1 bcm in the first quarter from 39.1 bcm in the first quarter of 2015, it said in a statement.
Gazprom's net debt was down to 1.783 trillion roubles at the end of March, compared to 2.083 trillion roubles as of end-2015, thanks to a stronger rouble.
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