Russia saw its oil production rise for the first time in three months in July as OPEC+ continued to ease the production cuts and planned maintenance at some Russian oilfields ended.
Russia’s crude oil and condensate production combined stood at around 10.46 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, up by 0.3 percent from June, according to Bloomberg estimates based on preliminary data from Russia’s Energy Ministry.
In May and June, Russia’s crude and condensate production was lower despite the higher quota the leader of the non-OPEC group in the OPEC+ alliance had. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), cited by Bloomberg, Russian crude oil production was lower in June because of planned maintenance.
It’s difficult to assess Russia’s compliance with the OPEC+ deal because its energy ministry is not breaking down crude oil and condensate production. Russia has won an exemption not to consider its condensate output as part of the production cut agreement.
As per Bloomberg estimates, if Russia’s condensate production in July was the same as in June, at around 900,000 bpd, then its crude oil production should have been 9.56 million bpd, above its quota of 9.495 million bpd for July.
Russia’s compliance with the OPEC+ deal will be around 100 percent in July, Deputy Prime Minister and chief oil negotiator, Alexander Novak, told reporters in Moscow on Friday.
Russia can boost its oil production in August by 100,000 bpd, as per the parameters in the OPEC+ deal agreed in July, Novak added.
On July 18, the OPEC+ group decided it would start returning 400,000 bpd to the market every month beginning in August until it unwinds all the 5.8 million bpd cuts.
While Russia saw its oil production inch up by 0.3 percent month over month in July, OPEC’s oil production is estimated to have jumped last month by 610,000 bpd to 26.72 million bpd, the highest since April 2020, the monthly Reuters survey showed.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
