BEIJING, May 15. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the outlook for extension of the oil production cap deal is promising.

"I think that the outlook is promising," he told a press conference on Monday when asked about his estimation of the outlook for the agreement on crude oil production cap between OPEC and non-OPEC countries to be extended.

"The fact that our main partner regarding the issue, Saudi Arabia, fully complies with previously reached agreements, encourages optimism," he said.

Also, president said, it is important that the decision to cut oil production has been made for nine, not for two or three months. "This is the main stability condition. Russia will follow the way it has chosen," he said.

Putin said heads of the country’s biggest energy companies support the proposal to extend the agreement on oil production cap.

"I just met heads of all our biggest oil and gas companies and the Energy Minister to discuss the issue, and we support the proposal," he said.

In 2016, Russia produced 547.5 mln tonnes of oil. The latest Energy Ministry’s outlook assumed that the production of Russian oil companies was expected at 549-555 mln tonnes taking into consideration the output cap agreement. Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the forecast would be adjusted in case of the deal’s extension in order to slash global oil reserves to the average level of the latest five years. Earlier on Monday Russia and Saudi Arabia said they would recommend the participants of the deal to extend it until March 2018 under the current conditions.

Russia made a commitment to cut its crude production by 300,000 barrels per day starting January 1, 2017 versus October 2016, or 2.7%, as part of the oil output cap deal with OPEC. In early May, Russia’s Energy Ministry reported that the targeted production level had been reached. The official talks between OPEC and Russia regarding the extension of the deal are expected at the meeting in Vienna on May 24-25.