OREANDA-NEWS. In the first quarter of 2014, the Company produced 4,115 thousand tonnes of oil (30,040 thousand barrels), a 7% year-on-year increase from the first quarter of 2013. In 1Q 2014, average daily production amounted to 45.6 thousand tonnes per day (332.9 thousand bbl/d), having reached an 18-year high.

The strong production growth in 1Q 2014 was driven by a 2.2% increase in production at brownfields due to highly efficient geological and engineering operations, and by the fact that from January to March 2014, Bashneft produced 176 thousand tonnes of oil at the R. Trebs and A. Titov fields in the Nenets Autonomous District. In addition, starting from 27 March 2014, Bashneft consolidated production from recently-acquired LLC Burneftegaz for the last five days of March 2014, during which Burneftegaz produced 9 thousand tonnes of oil.

In 1Q 2014, Bashneft's Ufa refining complex processed 5,318 thousand tonnes of oil (38,821 thousand barrels), an increase of 2% year-on-year. During 1Q 2014, refining depth averaged 83.08%, down by 1.46 basis points compared to the first quarter of 2013. The share of light products decreased by 1.4 basis points to 58.64%. The reduction in refining depth and the share of light products was related to repairs at a number of processing units aimed at preparing the equipment for operating in summer, when demand for petroleum products is higher.

Commercial products output in 1Q 2014 at the Company's refineries grew 3.2%, reaching 4,847 thousand tonnes. Gasoline production decreased by 5.5% quarter-on-quarter to 1,161 thousand tonnes. Due to a reduction in domestic demand, the share of Euro 4 and Euro 5 gasoline in total gasoline output decreased to 83.4% year-on-year from 91.8% in the first quarter of 2013. At the same time, the Company's technical capabilities enabled it to increase the share of Euro 5 gasoline to 82.1% in 1Q 2014 from 57.9% in 1Q 2013.

Euro 4 and Euro 5 diesel fuel accounted for 40.1% of the total output of commercial diesel fuel in 1Q 2014 compared to 25.8% in the first quarter of 2013. The share of Euro 5 diesel fuel increased to 40.1% for the reporting period, against 22.5% in the first quarter of 2013.