MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/. Russia’s oil production in 2019 reached 560.2 million tonnes, exceeding the levels of 2017 and 2018 when it hit a record high of 549 million tonnes and 556 million tonnes, according to the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel Energy Complex.

According to statistics, Soviet oil production set a record in 1987 at 569.5 million tonnes. Later it continued decreasing and plunged to 303 million tonnes by 1996.

Russia’s Energy Ministry predicts that domestic crude output could face a decline in the coming years unless a taxation reform is carried out. Energy Minister Alexander Novak says that Russia’s oil sector bears the highest tax burden in the world that amounts to 70% of companies’ revenues. The development of nearly half of Russia’s oil reserves is unprofitable under the current taxation system, he notes.