Page 146 - RusRPTApr23

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1a Oil & gas sector results
Russia’s oil output falls 8.5% to 42.1 mln tonnes in February.
Russia will reduce oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March 2023 from the level of February (10.2mn barrels daily), Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on March 24. Oil production will therefore total 9.7mn barrels per day after the cut. "We will achieve the reduction by 500,000 barrels [daily] against the February level. We had 10.2mn barrels per day in February," Novak said.
Russia was second in crude oil production after the United States in January 2023, the state statistics service Rosstat reported on March 23. Saudi Arabia was third. Russia’s crude oil production was 10.835mn barrels daily in January 2023, while the US lifted 12.216mn barrels per day and Saudi Arabia produced 10.453 barrels per day. The country produced in total 46mn metric tonnes of oil during January of this year, down 1% in annual terms. Crude oil production in January 2023 lost 0.4% in monthly terms.
Russia’s gas production fell 13.5% in February. Oil and gas condensate production in Russia amounted to 11.05mn barrels per day (bpd) in February 2023, having recovered to the level of February 2022, when sanctions were not yet imposed on the Russian oil industry, according to the analytical report of the Energy Development Center.
Initially the Russian government was preparing for a different scenario, expecting a decrease in oil production and an increase in its export prices. The Energy Development Center recalls that the budget for 2023 was formed on the basis of a reduction in the production of oil and gas condensate to 490mn tonnes (-8.2% by 2022), and the oil price included in the budget was $70.1 per barrel with the dollar-to-ruble rate of 68.1 rubles.
However, experts note that the Urals discount to Brent in January-February exceeded $30 per barrel, so the export price of Russian oil was only about $50 per barrel, while oil production remained stable.
Oil production without gas condensate in Russia was at the level of 9.8mn barrels daily in each of January and February 2023, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its March report.
146 RUSSIA Country Report Russia April 2023 www.intellinews.com