MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Oil production in Russia is stable, as companies have reconfigured their supply chains, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"In the oil industry, we [authorities] helped to provide insurance, make payments with friendly countries, and transfer to national currencies. As a result, during the year, by May-June, the situation had stabilized, our production leveled off, and reached the same level as in January-February. <…> Stable production continues to this day, as companies have reconfigured their supply chains and agreed on payments," he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister touched upon the reorientation of Russian supplies.
"To a greater extent, of course, today we see that as a result of unfriendly actions, our energy resources are being reoriented to other markets, to the markets of friendly countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and Latin America," Novak said.
The Deputy Prime Minister is confident that the currently observed increase in the discount on Russian Urals oil will soon stop, and after the stabilization of supply chains, it will begin to decrease again.
"Just recently, it (the price cap - TASS) was set at $60 per barrel, today oil is sold at about $80 per barrel of Brent, and the Urals brand is sold at a discount. The discount was high at the beginning of the year, then it halved, now it has also grown somewhat due to uncertainties. I am sure that soon it will stabilize," Novak said.
By the end of 2022, Russia will increase oil production by about 2%, to 535 million tons, and the output of oil products will increase by 5%, Novak said.
He stressed that Russia will not supply oil and oil products to countries in compliance with the price cap. Not only will Russia ban supplies to countries that require compliance with a Western-imposed price ceiling, but it could cut oil production by 500-700 bpd in early 2023, Novak said.