Strategy rethink unveiled.(Lukoil)

Lukoil has revealed details of a number of measures to tackle a fall in its underlying profits in the second quarter (see below).

The company will stop domestic crude sales next year, boosting both exports and domestic product sales, Lukoil vice-president for corporate finance Leonid Fedun said at a recent presentation of the firm's results.

In the first half of this year the company sold 3.3mn t (24.1mn bl) of crude on the domestic market, down by 1.7mn t on the same period of 2002. Lukoil ascribes the decline to significant increases in crude and product exports--the latter following higher crude throughputs at the company's own refineries.

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