Russia to cut output by up to 60,000 bpd in January
Russia earlier said they were able to cut output by 100,000-150,000 for 3 months in 2019
Dubai: Russia, the second-largest producer of oil after Saudi Arabia in November, said on Monday that it plans to cut output by 50,000-60,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January. Last week, Opec+ — the alliance of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec members — agreed to cut 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil for the next six months starting January, out of which non-Opec countries, of which Russia is a part of, had to contribute to a total of 400,000 bpd in cuts. The remaining 800,000 bpd will be shouldered by Opec countries.
“We will try to do it soon, but it will take some time, probably several months,” Russia’s energy ministry Alexander Novak was quoted as saying. Russia produced 11.41 million bpd of oil in October. Earlier Novak had told Opec+ countries that Russia was able to reduce output by 100,000-150,000 bpd for three months in 2019. Russia wanted to either keep oil output reduced at this level or discuss further cuts in three months, a month before the Opec+ review meeting.
“Russia committed to deliver its cuts by the spring, and the estimates suggest the cut commitment stands at around [200,000] bpd. Therefore, 50,000-60,000 in January seems perfectly in line with current expectations, so no change to our forecasts at all,” Francisco Quintana, head of strategy at Foresight Advisors, told Gulf News.