Russian oil output down 10,000-20,000 bpd from Oct - minister
ABU DHABI. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Russia's current oil production is 10,000-20,000 barrels per day lower than in October, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters ahead of a meeting of the OPEC+ ministerial committee.
"Our production is now at October's level, maybe 10,000-20,000 bpd lower," Novak said.
Asked if he sees a surplus on the oil market, Novak said: "We need to wait awhile, see how the market develops. We need to hear the data of the technical committee."
However, if OPEC+ countries make an agreed decision to reduce oil production in future, Russia will act "in concert with other countries so that the market is stabilized and remains stable," he said. "We also have an interested in this, like other countries," Novak said.
He confirmed that the fulfilment of the OPEC+ deal to curb oil output amounted to 104% in October. Thus, OPEC+ countries kept about 70,000 more barrels per day off the market than planned compared to the October 2016 level.
Russia increased oil production by 60,000 bpd month-on-month to 11.41 million bpd in September, a source familiar with industry statistics told Interfax. Novak said earlier that production in October was 150,000 bpd above the October 2016 figure, which would put it at 11.397 million bpd.