Novak sees Russian gas production falling 18-20% to 671 bcm, oil production growing by about 2% to 535 mln tonnes in 2022

MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) - Natural gas production in Russia will fall by 18-20% to 671 billion cubic meters in 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview on TV channel Rossiya 24.

He said 470 bcm of this gas will have been delivered to domestic customers by the end of the year.

The channel's correspondent attributed the drop in demand to the decline of gas consumption in Europe and the sabotage carried out on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.

At the same time, oil production in Russia will grow by about 2% to 535 million tonnes in 2022, Novak said in the interview.

"By the end of the year, in the oil sector, we will reach an increase even in the production volume compared to last year by about 2% to 535 million tonnes. We will produce about 5% more petroleum products than last year," Novak said.

"Yes, there is a partial drop in production in the gas industry by about 18%-20%, nonetheless, our gas sector will produce 671 billion cubic meters of gas this year, which is also a large amount, of which about 470 bcm will go to the domestic market," Novak said.

In the lead-in to the interview, citing the speaker's words, it was noted that, "Russia's fuel and energy complex has been stable this year, and despite some moments of declining activity observed at the very beginning, it has coped with the new challenges." Specifically, coal output is expected to remain at last year's level.

Oil production in Russia could drop by 500,000-700,000 barrels per day at the beginning of 2023 due to the price cap on Russian crude imposed by the European Union, the deputy prime minister said.

"We are prepared to see a partial reduction of production. At the beginning of next year we might have a decrease by 500,000-700,000 bpd. For us this is about 506%. This is a negligible amount, but such risks exist," Novak said.

He reiterated that Russia does not intend to supply oil and oil products to legal entities in countries that demand contract prices comply with the price cap.