Russia has cut oil production by 185,000 barrels per day, as of today, under the agreement with OPEC, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on March 25. "Now by 185,000," he said, answering a reporter’s question.

Earlier, Russia was reported to have cut oil production by 160,000 barrels per day as of mid-March, but until the end of the month, it will have increased cuts to 200,000 barrels per day. OPEC decided at its November 2016 meeting in Vienna to limit production to 32.5 mln barrels per day in the first half of 2017, down 1.2 mln barrels per day from October 2016 production levels, with the possibility of extending this limit for the remainder of the year. In a subsequent meeting on December 10, eleven non-OPEC countries pledged to cut nearly 0.6 mln barrels per day, among them Azerbaijan, Bahrein, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan. Thus, the total crude oil production cut will amount to 1.7-1.8 mln barrels per day in the first half of this year. The signed agreement expires in June. The issue of extending it will be discussed at the upcoming ministerial meeting on monitoring of oil production cut in Kuwait scheduled for March 26.

Source: TASS