MOSCOW: Russia’s Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of state gas producer Gazprom, said on Thursday its net profit soared four-fold in 2021 to a record 503.4 billion roubles ($6.7 billion) thanks to rising oil and gas prices. Global energy producers have reported a big increase in earnings for last year thanks to a recovery in demand from pandemic-related lockdowns, mainly in 2020. Revenue last year rose 54 percent to 3.07 trillion roubles, while Gazprom Neft said it generated a free cash flow of over 500 billion roubles. The company, Russia’s fastest-growing in terms of output, also said its hydrocarbon production exceeded 100 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe). “In 2021, the company reached the 100 mtoe milestone for the first time in its history, having doubled production within two years,” Gazprom Neft’s head Alexander Dyukov said in a statement. “This was one of the key targets we had set ourselves as part of the company’s long-term strategy. We also see opportunities for further production growth in 2022 and beyond.”The company has said it expects hydrocarbon production to increase by 5 percent annually from 2023 to 2024, after an expected rise of 10 percent in 2022.