Gazprom Neft Slams Oil Cuts Agreement

Russian energy firm Gazprom Neft is chafing at a global deal to cut oil output because the pact has forced the company to curtail its ambitious plans for production growth, deputy chief executive, Vadim Yakovlev, said in an interview. “We are working today in conditions of uncertainty over the extension of the OPEC and non-OPEC deal,” Yakovlev told Reuters in an interview cleared for publication on Monday. Yakovlev said the company, Russia’s fastest-growing oil producer by output, views the deal as a short-term one. He also said Gazprom Neft’s Middle East operations are of strategic importance and plans are in place to increase its presence there. “The companies involved in this deal are paying a different price. The effect is equal for everyone, but the contribution of the companies to the deal is different,” he said. OPEC and other leading oil producers, including Russia, agreed to reduce their combined output by around 1.8 million barrels per day until the end of March 2018.