* Rosneft reports Q2 profit after Q1 loss of 156 bln roubles
* Rosneft Q2 oil output down 13% from Q1 due to OPEC+ deal
* Rosneft's Sechin says expects financials to improve
(Adds operational results, detail)
MOSCOW, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Russia's largest oil producer
Rosneft made a second-quarter profit of 43 billion
roubles after reporting a loss in the previous three months
thanks to a rise in oil prices, it said on Friday.
Rosneft, headed by Igor Sechin, a long-standing ally of
President Vladimir Putin, is the first big Russian oil company
to report financial results for the second quarter, when the oil
prices started to recover after hitting a 21-year low in April.
The oil market, under pressure from overproduction and the
fallout from the coronavirus crisis, has been on a recovery path
thanks to a global deal between OPEC and other leading oil
producers, including Russia, to cut oil production.
The company, which accounts for more than 40% of Russia's
total oil output, said it produced 4.04 million barrels of oil
per day (bpd) in the second quarter, down 13% from the previous
quarter, due to the global output reduction deal.
Rosneft gave a dollar figure of $700 million for its
earnings in the first quarter. Rosneft said the conversion was
calculated using average monthly Central Bank of Russia exchange
rates for the reporting period.
The company, in which BP owns a 19.75% stake,
sustained a loss of 156 billion roubles ($2.13 billion) in the
first quarter, when the oil prices fell by two-thirds due to a
supply glut and the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
"As prices for crude oil and refined products had improved,
our financial metrics demonstrated a positive dynamics in the
course of 2Q 2020. This provides us confidence that the
company's financial results will stage a recovery in the
upcoming periods," Sechin said in a statement.
In the second quarter of 2019, Rosneft had reported a net
profit of 194 billion roubles.
($1 = 73.3100 roubles)
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing
by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Jan Harvey and Jane Merriman)
BP (BP.)