Russia Restores Oil Export Volumes — Novak

The Deputy Prime Minister noted that Russia increased oil production in May by 200,000-300,000 barrels per day after the decline in April

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak Maxim Blinov/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia is restoring oil exports, it is impossible to talk about a crisis in the industry, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.

"We are in constant contact with our oil and gas companies and we do not see any serious problems that would indicate that our industry is in some kind of crisis. Yes, we received a certain shock that allowed us to find new balance points and enter new export opportunities, including redirecting energy resources to new markets, creating new supply chains. We are looking for new partners, additionally solving financing issues - the problems that the industry has faced due to sanctions," he said.

He added that Russia increased oil production in May by 200,000-300,000 barrels per day (bpd) after the decline in April. In June, the recovery of production will continue, Novak said. "In March-April, as a result of the shock, we saw a slight decline in production and oil refining - around 10-14%," he said.

"We have already started to rebound in May and we see that production is already increasing. In April we reduced production by around 1 mln bpd and in May, we already increased it by 200,000-300,000 bpd. And we expect that recovery will also continue in June," Novak added.

According to the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development, in 2022, Russian oil exports will decrease by 1.2% to 228.3 mln tonnes after 231 mln tonnes in 2021 and to 224.8 mln tonnes in 2023. In 2024-2025, exports are expected to grow to 228.1 mln tonnes and 229.5 mln tonnes, respectively.