Russia may cut oil output by 300,000 barrels a day

Tuesday, 16 December 2008, 17:14 IST
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Moscow: Russia may cut oil production by up to 300,000 barrels a day if it joins expected output reduction policy of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), the chief of the country's largest independent producer, LUKoil, said Monday. The Opec is set to hold an extraordinary meeting in Algeria Wednesday to decide on further reductions in oil production in the backdrop of falling oil prices. The cartel is expected to reduce production by some two million barrels a day. "Opec expects Russia to cut output by 200,000-300,000 barrels," Vagit Alekperov said. In 2008, Russia has so far produced an average of 9.5 million barrels a day. Alekperov said LUKoil would be ready to support a decision on oil output cuts, if Russia made a decision of output reduction along with the Opec. In that case, he said, the company would have to decide which deposits and oil wells could be "stopped painlessly." World oil prices have fallen by more than 60 percent from a record high of $147 per barrel in July to under $50, as the global credit crunch has reduced the demand for fuel. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that Russia could join Opec in cutting output, and suggested the country could join the oil cartel given the importance of oil prices to the economy and government finances. Russia and Opec together account for more than half of global oil production.
Source: IANS