MOSCOW - New figures show Russia’s oil production in 2017 increased to the highest level in the past 30 years to reach an average of 10.9 million barrels per day.
The increase came even though Russia reached a deal with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last year to cut output and help boost prices.
Figures released by Bloomberg show that Russian output has soared under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, nearly doubling from 6.1 million barrels a day in 1999.
The industry’s long expansion could pause in 2018 because Russia has agreed to another year of cuts with the OPEC.
Despite the cuts, Russia achieved a record because it ramped up production so rapidly the year before. Output reached 11.23 million barrels a day in October 2016, a month before the accord with OPEC was announced, Bloomberg added.
Russia implemented its pledged 300,000 barrel-a-day supply cut gradually, meaning output remained above 11 million barrels a day for several months in early 2017.
Oil output in December was 10.95 million barrels a day, up 0.1 percent from November, while exports dropped 5.3 percent to 5.24 million barrels a day, according to Bloomberg.
The report further added that Russia’s allies in OPEC were not complaining. Brent prices climbed 18 percent last year and global inventories have fallen.
Following the November decision to extend the pact through 2018, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih, sitting next to his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak at a press conference, said “we are completely aligned.”