By Joe Hoppe 



  Novatek said Wednesday that pretax profit for the second quarter of the year plummeted as the coronavirus pandemic hit demand and the oversupply of crude oil drove down oil prices. 


  The Russian energy company said pretax profit for the second quarter of the year fell to 34.73 billion Russian rubles ($481.2 million), from RUB83.76 billion in the year-earlier period. For the first half of the year, pretax profit fell to RUB35.74 billion from RUB515.35 billion. 


  The company attributed the fall to coronavirus pandemic-related disruption hitting demand, coupled with an increased supply of crude oil due to the cancellation of the OPEC+ production agreement in the first quarter, driving down oil prices. 


  Novatek said second-quarter revenue fell to RUB143.94 billion, from RUB218.51 billion in the year-earlier period. 


  Normalized net profit in the second-quarter of the year, which strips out any effects from disposals and foreign exchange gains, fell to RUB21.2 billion from RUB64.3 billion, the company said. 


  On July 13, the company reported a 2.5% fall in second-quarter hydrocarbon production, while natural gas sales volumes declined 9.9% on the back of a 32% slump in international sales. 


  Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com