The Russian Economic Development Ministry increased its forecast for oil production in 2015 to 530.5 million tons, while lowering its forecast for the production of gas to 626 billion cubic meters. According to the adjusted estimations of the ministry, oil production in 2015 will increase by 2.5 million tons and gas production will decline by 4 billion cubic meters, TASS reported. The volume of oil refining in 2015 will decline and amount to 290 million tons, which is 1.5% lower than the level of 2014. According to the ministry, this is due to the decline in domestic demand for oil products and the companies' interest in exporting more oil. Food and chemical production will maintain the positive dynamics and at the end of 2015 will presumably increase by 1.9% and 5.5%, respectively, according to the ministry.
