Russia Crude Output Declines

Russia’s crude oil output is down 307,600 barrels per day, compared to October levels, the country’s oil minister said.

“At the end of July 2017, the reduction of oil production stood at 307,600 barrels a day as compared to October 2016,” Minister Alexander Novak also told reporters. “Therefore Russia is meeting is obligations on lowering production,” Oil Price reported.

Novak was referring to the promise Moscow made to OPEC and 10 other nations in November to cut production by 300,000 bpd in an effort to rebalance oil supply with demand. Novak had said Russian cuts totaled 308,000 bpd in June.

OPEC and non-member partners agreed to extend the agreement through March 2018 in late May, but the news has not translated to substantially higher barrel prices. High output from Libya, Nigeria and the United States has offset the intended effect of the organization’s production cuts.

Nigeria recently announced its intention to limit output at 1.8 million bpd, once its national production recovers to that level later this year.

Oil prices are doing better now than they were in June, when they reached a seven-month low below $45 a barrel.

Novak also previously emphasized that over the last six months, global crude oil supply has shrunk by 350 million barrels, thanks to OPEC’s production reduction deal. The minister spoke at a summit in St. Petersburg tasked with tracking the progress of the agreement.