The top three oil companies opt for investments or losses to counter the crisis

Thus, at the end of the first six months of 2009, the local subsidiary of the Russian LukOil company posted losses for the first time in its history (an accounting loss of $4.4 million), while Rompetrol and Petrom gained market share.

“Rompetrol Downstream registered a total increase in sales of four percent in the first half of 2009 compared to the first half of 2008, considering the fuel retail market posted a four percent drop in the first half of 2009 compared to the corresponding period in 2008,” said the officials of the group owned by the KazMunaiGaz oil and gas company.

Petrom, Romania’s largest company and leader of the local fuel distribution market, posted a 15 percent increase in internal gas sales at the end of the first six months of this year and a six percent rise in internal diesel sales. Meanwhile, LukOil lost market share and posted a drop in sales of some 10 percent in the first six months.