MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russia’s biggest private oil producer Lukoil will adjust its production plan for this year following the decision on crude output cap agreement expected to be made by OPEC countries in Vienna on May 25, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Vagit Alekperov said Wednesday.

"We welcome the initiative of the (Energy - TASS) ministry on production cut, so I would not make forecasts (on 2017 production plan - TASS) today," he said, adding that in case it is decided to extend the production cut agreement the company "will adjust the plan."

According to Alekperov, Russian companies will cut production respectively in this case, similar to the pervious agreement.

Earlier Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said the country is ready to extend its participation in the oil production deal for another nine months until end-March 2018. According to Novak, the ministry has discussed the proposal on extension of the OPEC agreement for another nine months with Russian companies and got traction.

In early December 2016, OPEC countries and eleven non-OPEC nations agreed to slash the total oil production by 1.8 mln barrels per day in the first half of this year in order to cut global oil stocks to the latest five-year average. Russia has 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. The official talks between OPEC and Russia regarding the extension of the deal are expected at the meeting in Vienna on May 24-25.

In 2016, Lukoil reduced oil production by 8.7% - to 91.9 mln tonnes. Production in Russia decreased by 2.8% to 83.2 mln tonnes. Oil production outside of Russia fell by 13% to 3.75 mln tonnes, production at West Qurna-2 field in Iraq has almost halved to 5 mln tonnes.

In December 2016, Vagit Alekperov said that the company would keep oil production unchanged at 84-85 mln tonnes and hydrocarbon output at 120 mln tonnes in the next two years.