The figures beat analysts’ expectations, as analysts credits rising energy prices for the surge in second-quarter net profit.
Gazprom’s shares were up 1.1% after the results, outperforming the borader Moscow stock market, which was 0.8% higher.
Gazprom shipped more than 101 billion cubic metres of natural gas to the EU and Turkey in the first half of 2018, which was up 6% year-on-year and accounting for around a 34% share of Europe’s gas market.
The Russian oil producer said on Thursday it had almost doubled year-on-year net profit in the second quarter to $1.4 billion on higher oil prices and rising production from new projects.
The results come after US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton condemned the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany on a visit to Kiev on Friday. It was stressed that Europe was taking a streategic risk by relying on Russian gas.
“It’s not just the economic significance of being heavily dependent on Russia for the supply of natural gas and petroleum, but the strategic significance of it as well,” Bolton told journalists after meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a visit to Kiev.
On Wednesday Gazprom said its average gas export price rose by a quarter to $203 roubles per 1,000 cubic metres in the first half of this year.