MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. The global oil market is now balanced in terms of supply and demand, taking into account earlier measures on voluntary production cuts by a number of OPEC+ countries, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Thursday.

"My opinion is that now the market is balanced, taking into account the decisions made earlier, including our reduction (of oil production), as well as reductions in other countries. Plus, consumption is starting to grow now. Let's see how the situation will develop," he said.

According to Novak, the current growth rate of the Chinese economy is in line with OPEC+ forecasts, which were taken into account when deciding to cut production.

"The recovery is underway, well, maybe slower than analysts and experts expected," he said.

In March, Russia made a decision to voluntarily cut oil production. It was decided to extend the production cut through June, and then this decision was extended until the end of the year. Alexander Novak explained that the reduction in oil production is aimed at reducing the discount on Russian oil and ensuring stable supplies.

In late March, Novak said that Russia was close to reaching the target level of production cuts. According to him, Russia in March was to reduce oil production by 500,000 barrels per day from the average level in February, defined in accordance with independent sources. According to OPEC, Russia produced 10 million barrels of oil per day oil in February.