MOSCOW, March 1. /TASS/. Russia is starting to reduce oil output by 500,000 barrels per day from March. According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Russia has made the choice voluntarily, without consulting with the OPEC+ countries.

Novak's representative explained that the reduction would affect only oil output, excluding gas condensate. The production quota will be distributed evenly among oil companies depending on their level of production.

Novak said earlier that Russia has only made a decision on voluntary reduction of crude production by 500,000 barrels per day for March so far. "We will see how the market situation will unfold, and depending on this, decisions will be taken on the market," he said, adding that "the present decision has only been made for March."

Meanwhile, a TASS source in the industry specified that the reduction in production would be calculated from the real volume of production, and not from Russia’s production quota under the OPEC+ deal. According to the deal, from November 2022, Russia is to produce 10.478 mln barrels per day. In January 2023, as Novak said earlier, Russia produced approximately 9.8-9.9 mln barrels per day.