Mubasher: Russia’s state-oil producer Gazprom Neft on Wednesday reported a significant increase in profits during 2017, coinciding with a recovery in global oil prices.

Profits rose by 26.5% year-on-year to around RUB 253 billion ($4.5 billion) last year, according to the company’s financial results.

Meanwhile, pre-tax earnings jumped 21.6% to RUB 489 billion, while sales grew by 18.2% to more than RUB 2 trillion.

These positive figures came on the back of the agreement to trim oil production which had been decided upon in collaboration with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members which helped rebalance the oil market, the company said.