Kremlin Rules Out Compensation for Oil Firms

Russia’s oil companies will not be compensated for planned output cuts under a deal with OPEC, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. "The issue of any compensation has not been raised," Peskov said Wednesday as he commented the results of President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with heads of local oil producers, TASS reported.  He also said that Putin has personally agreed the issue of production cap with all leading oil companies. "The president personally made the decision on the basis of the consensus reached with heads of those oil firms," he added. On December 2, Lukoil Vice President Leonid Fedun said that the company expects the Russian government to pay compensation to major oil companies due to the oil production cut. According to Fedun, Lukoil is ready to comply with any decision on production cap as "this is right and economically sound for the country," though "it will take at least one quarter" for the company to enforce it.