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Russia to reduce oil output by 250,000 barrels by mid-April — minister

In March, Russia reduced oil production by 202,300 barrels per day to 11.046 mln barrels, thus fulfilling 67% of the reduction quota

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Russia to reduce oil production by  250,000 barrels in the deal with OPEC by mid-April, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

"We will deliver," he said, answering a question from TASS.

Russia participates in the oil output reduction deal, pledging to reduce production by 300,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017, to the level of October 2016, or by 2.7%.

In March, Russia reduced oil production by 202,300 barrels per day to 11.046 mln barrels, thus fulfilling 67% of the reduction quota. Russia will reach the full quota for reduction by the end of April, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier. In March, OPEC fulfilled 106% of the planned quota of 1.2 mln barrels.

Oil producers 

Russia’s Energy Ministry will launch consultations with the country’s oil producers regarding the issue of extending Moscow’s participation in the crude production cap deal with OPEC in the near future, Novak added.

"It still remains unclear whether the agreement should be extended. We’ll have consultations with our companies and other countries in the nearest future, and we have to see how he situation unfolds in April and consider outlooks for May and June," he said, adding that the final decision will depend on those factors.

According to Novak, Russia’s participation in the deal with OPEC member-states brought the share of energy revenues in the country’s budget from 38% to 50% in the first quarter of this year.