The Ministry of Energy expects a decline in oil production in Russia this year

The level of oil production in Russia this year will decrease slightly, including, said Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov in the State Duma.

“For 2023, we expect the level for oil to be slightly lower, including due to a voluntary decline in production,” – leads his words TASS.

Gas production in the country will continue to decline, the minister added, against the background of the refusal of the European market and the reorientation of energy flows.

On February 10, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak said that in March Russia voluntarily will reduce oil production at 500,000 barrels per day. Sources of Vedomosti noted then that the reduction in production would lead to a decrease in refining volumes at refineries and a decrease in the export of petroleum products, and oil exports would not fall significantly.

How wrote Earlier, Vedomosti, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) raised the forecast for oil production in Russia in 2023 by 150,000 barrels per day to 10.28 million barrels per day. The production forecast for the first quarter has been increased even more significantly – by 620,000 barrels per day to 10.9 million barrels per day. But the cartel expects a sharp decline in oil production in Russia in the second quarter to 10 million barrels per day. In the III quarter, production, according to OPEC, will recover to 10.1 million barrels per day, in the fourth quarter – up to 10.15 million barrels per day.

According to the government, oil production in Russia in 2022 increased by 2% year-on-year to 535.2 million tons (10.7 million barrels per day), Novak reported in February. But, according to OPEC estimates, in 2022 oil production in Russia amounted to 11.03 million barrels per day. Thus, by the end of 2023, the organization expects this indicator to decrease by 7%. In the February forecast, OPEC estimated the decline in Russian production this year at 8%.