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Russia to produce 520-525 mln tonnes of oil in 2022 compared to 524 mln tonnes in 2021

Nevertheless, Alexander Novak said the government expected a partial recovery of crude output after a decline in April at the level of around 1 mln barrels per day

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. Russia’s crude oil production may slightly go down (by 0.7%) or edge up by 0.2% by the end of 2022, reaching around 520-525 mln tonnes compared to 524 mln tonnes last year, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Thursday.

The country’s authorities do not expect any deviations from the output course in August, he added.

"I have said that [production] will be at last year’s level of 520-525 mln tonnes," Novak said, adding that "the first seven months [of 2022] saw a 3.3% increase compared with last year," and that no major deviations are expected for August.

Since last spring Russia has largely increased crude oil production gradually, though in March 2022 it faced international sanctions. In the first ten-day period of April output fell by 6% compared to March, whereas by the end of the month the decrease reached almost 9%. Finance Ministry Anton Siluanov said then Russia could lose up to 17% of its oil production in 2022 due to sanctions.

Nevertheless, Novak said the government expected a partial recovery of crude output after a decline in April at the level of around 1 mln barrels per day, adding that an increase in production was registered in the middle of June compared to May by 600,000 barrels per day, and that Russia was close to the recovery of the February production level. However, Deputy PM admitted production could drop to 500 mln tonnes by the end of 2022 from 524 mln tonnes in 2021.