MOSCOW- Russia’s oil production rose 0.1 percent in the period from January 1 to 9, to stand at about 10.9 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to December 2022, the daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday, citing two sources familiar with energy ministry data.
Vedomosti said Russian oil exports had risen by 1.2 percent in early January to 634,400 bpd, while refining volumes increased by 1.4 percent to 808,400 bpd.
Russian oil production has shown resilience in the face of Western sanctions and price caps, introduced last month, after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
In 2022, Russian oil output rose by 2 percent to 535 million tons (10.7 million barrels per day), while exports jumped by 7.5 percent.
Production is expected to fall by 5 percent-7 percent in early 2023 in response to price caps on Russia’s crude and refined products.
The energy ministry said on Tuesday it has been working on additional measures to limit discounts on Russian oil prices versus international benchmarks after the West imposed price caps.
President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered Russia’s long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap.
The Group of Seven major powers, the European Union and Australia agreed this month to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil effective from Dec. 5 over Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The cap is close to the current price for Russian oil, but well beneath the windfall price Russia was able to sell for this year and that helped offset the impact of financial sanctions on Moscow.
Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, and a major disruption to its sales would have far reaching consequences for global energy supplies.
The decree, published on a government portal and the Kremlin website, was presented as a direct response to “actions that are unfriendly and contradictory to international law by the United States and foreign states and international organisations joining them”.
“Deliveries of Russian oil and oil products to foreign entities and individuals are banned, on the condition that in the contracts for these supplies, the use of a maximum price fixing mechanism is directly or indirectly envisaged,” the decree stated, referring specifically to the United States and other foreign states that have imposed the price cap. – Reuters
