MOSCOW, July 2. / TASS /. There is no decision to extend the decline in oil production under the OPEC+ deal at the level of May-June, and from August 1, countries will begin to restore production in accordance with the terms of the agreement, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the Valdai international discussion club on Thursday.
"At present, there are no decisions to prepare any changes. We have an agreement under which we only extended the level of reduction for July, which was laid down in May-June. Next, under the current agreements we should have a partial restoration of the volume of reductions starting August 1," Novak explained. Thus, from August 1, the total decrease in oil production by OPEC+ countries will amount to 7.7 mln barrels per day, while since May there is a quota of 9.7 mln barrels per day.
At the same time, countries will continue to study the situation on the market and will analyze the level of transaction execution by all participants. "We will see what the situation will be, what the technical data will be as the indicators for June will be out already. The Technical Committee will conduct an appropriate analysis of the implementation of the agreement and of the current situation, and we will discuss it," said Novak.
A significant drop in oil demand, which peaked in April, will also significantly affect global investment in the oil industry. According to Novak's forecast this year it will decrease by a third.
"In April, we saw a fall in demand by 25-28%. Of course, this seriously affected investments in the fuel and energy complex. They [investments], in my opinion, fell by about a third, and will fall by a third this year," said Novak.
The decline in global demand led to an increase in oil reserves. "In my estimate, the growth of reserves is about 1 billion barrels for this period," he added.