Lukoil, Russia's second-largest oil producer, has reported a 75 per cent jump in first-quarter net profit, as a recent surge in global crude prices to near four-year highs helped push up revenue and margins.

A 17-month-old deal between Russia and the Opec cartel to cap global oil production helped lift prices last year from historic lows, and in recent months a collapse in production in Venezuela and fears over Iran's output pushed the benchmark Brent crude price temporarily to more than $80 a barrel, cheering oil majors and exporting countries.

Russia’s top privately owned producer said its profit for the first three months of 2018 stood at 109.1 billion roubles (€1.5 billion), up from R62.3 billion a year earlier and slightly more than an analyst forecast of R107 billion, according to a poll conducted by Interfax.

Revenue rose 14 per cent to 1.63 trillion roubles on a marginal increase in hydrocarbon production. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018