Despite Russia’s agreement to extend production cuts with its OPEC+ partners, oil companies in the country are operating at a record pace this year, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Data obtained by the news agency shows that despite production cuts, drilling activity saw a significant year-on-year surge in the first half of the year, with 14,700 kilometers of production wells drilled at the nation’s – 6.6% more than planned and 8.6% more than in the same period in 2022.
According to Ronald Smith, an oil and gas analyst at Moscow-based BCS Global Markets, Russian oil extractors set post-Soviet production-drilling record in 2022, adding that this year a new high is expected to be established.
Aiming to retaliate against Ukraine-related sanctions, Moscow has previously ordered Russian oil companies to curb output by 500,000 bpd, a measure that lasted just several months but – in coordination with OPEC – was subsequently extended until the end of 2024.
In order to curb Moscow’s ability to drill and pump crude, which is an important source of revenue for the national and the war budget, the US, EU, UK, and their allies introduced severe restrictions on exports of oil industry equipment and technologies, imposed price caps on Russian crude and petroleum products, and have also banned seaborne exports.
Be the first to comment