Russia’s crude oil production has risen so far in May, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told TASS on Monday.
Russia’s crude oil production fell by half a million barrels a day in March to one million barrels a day in April, with many analysts fearing the barrels may never return to the market. OPEC + production quota for April was set at 10.436 million barrels per day.
But according to Novak, the picture is not so bleak, as Russia’s crude oil production is now stabilizing despite sanctions.
“Looking at the figures from the beginning of May, they are better than in April. The situation is stable, production is increasing compared to April. We are counting on a partial recovery of the data in May and that it will be better, “Novak told TASS, without quantifying the increased production.
According to Interfax, Russia’s crude oil production fell to 10.05 million barrels a day in April, down about 4% year on year, but for the first few days of May it rose 2% from April. to an average of 10.28 million bpd.
But even that increase is far from Russia’s May 10 OPEC + production quota of 10.549 million barrels per day.
In April, Russia’s economy ministry estimated it could cut about 17 percent of its pre-war oil production this year, an estimate widely shared, if not conservative, in the industry.
The fear of “lost” Russian oil production is partly what led the United States and other IAEA members to agree to release millions of barrels of crude oil from emergency stocks to stabilize the market. And while crude prices traded lower on Monday, Brent was still trading at over $ 106 a barrel and WTI was still above $ 103 a barrel.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, cut its official differentials in crude oil sales to China in June – largely considered oil prices.
By Julian Geiger for Oilprice.com
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