OREANDA-NEWS. NOVATEK ("NOVATEK" and/or the "Company") reported today preliminary operating data for the second quarter and first half 2014.

In the second quarter 2014, NOVATEK's gross production totaled 15.59 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas and 1,356 thousand tons of liquids (gas condensate and crude oil), resulting in an increase in natural gas production by 2.6% and an increase in combined liquids production by 13.2%, as compared with the second quarter 2013.

In the first half 2014, NOVATEK's gross production totaled 31.30 bcm of natural gas and 2,726 thousand tons of liquids (gas condensate and crude oil). The Company produced almost the same level of natural gas as in the prior period but increased the combined liquids production by 14.4%, as compared with the first half 2013.

For the reporting periods, natural gas production was affected due to the disposal of the Company's equity share in Sibneftegas at the end of 2013. Excluding the natural gas produced by Sibneftegas, NOVATEK's natural gas production increased by 9.9% in the first half 2014 and by 12.8% in the second quarter 2014 as compared with the respective periods in 2013.

In the second quarter and first half 2014, NOVATEK processed 1,430 and 2,816 thousand tons, respectively, of unstable gas condensate at the Purovsky Processing Plant, representing an increase in liquid volumes processed by 18.1% and 17.3%, as compared with the respective periods in 2013.

In the second quarter 2014, NOVATEK processed 1,037 thousand tons of stable gas condensate at the Ust-Luga Fractionation and Transshipment Complex launched in June 2013, and in the first half 2014, the Company processed 2,041 thousand tons of stable gas condensate at the Ust-Luga Complex. Preliminary second quarter 2014 product sales volumes aggregated approximately 1,090 thousand tons, including 890 thousand tons of naphtha, 102 thousand tons of jet fuel, and 98 thousand tons of heating oil and gasoil.

At 30 June 2014, NOVATEK had 1,589 mmcm of natural gas and 357 thousand tons of stable gas condensate and its products in storage or transit and recognized as inventory.