Novak says Russia can increase oil production in July

Russia plans to increase oil production next month as export flows are being redirected to avoid Western sanctions, energy officials said on Thursday, predicting domestic oil output would be either flat or decline slightly this year, Reuters reported.

“In fact, we are close to the February levels when we had it (oil production) at 10.2 million barrels per day (bpd), we plan to increase it further in July depending on companies’ plans,” Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters.

Production from the world’s third biggest producer after the United States and Saudi Arabia dropped by about 10% to 10.05 million bpd in April from February, after some buyers postponed or refused Russian barrels due to sanctions.

Production is being restored as companies redirect flows, Novak said on Thursday.

Russian oil production is expected to remain either flat or to decline by 3-5% this year, Nikolay Shulginov, Russia’s energy minister, told Izvestia newspaper in a separate interview on Thursday.