Russia is ready to increase oil production above 200,000 b/d if othercountries of the OPEC-led coalition are not be able to meet the group's newgoal to raise the combined output by 1 million b/d, Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak said on June 29, as reported by Platts.
«If everybody agrees that... we, say, cannot receive the 1 million b/d[increase], of course we'll be participating in ensuring the increase withhigher parameters than 200,000 b/d if needed» Novak was quoted as saying by the agency.
At the Vienna meeting last week, OPEC and its allies, led by Russia, agreed toadjust individual oil output ceilings in line with each country's sparecapacity to increase combined production by up to 1 million b/d to avoidpotential shortages in supply amid high risks of further falls in crude production in Venezuela, Iran and Libya. Russia's quota was put at 200,000b/d.
Earlier in the day, Alexander Novak said that Russia was prepared to increase its outputby up to 200,000 b/d in July. «For July, we plan [an increase of] up to 200,000 b/d,» Novak said, as quotedby Prime.
The increase would translate into a Russian production cut of 100,000 b/d fromOctober 2016's level, the baseline for OPEC and its allies' production cutdeal effective from January 2017, Novak said.
Russia reduced its crude production by 300,000 b/d from October 2016, when itpumped a record 11.247 million b/d, according to the energy ministry's data.
Author: Vanand Meliksetian
