Moscow will cut oil and gas production in 2023 mainly because of Europe’s refusal to buy Russian hydrocarbons and the inability to quickly divert those volumes to Asia, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulguinov said on Wednesday.
“In 2023, we expect the level (of oil production) to be slightly lower, partly due to a voluntary reduction in crude oil extraction,” he said in a report to the Russian State Duma.
Shulguinov noted that “the level of gas production will continue its downward trend due to both the refusal of the European market to buy it and the diversion of energy flows to the east”.
The Russian minister recalled that Russia has cut gas production in 2022 after explosions in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which transport Russian gas to Germany.
Russia extracted 535.1 million tons of crude oil in 2022, surpassing last year’s production of 524.5 million tons.
In early 2023, in the wake of the Western price cap on Russian oil and Russia’s refusal to trade on those terms, Russia announced it would voluntarily cut extraction by 500,000 barrels per day to balance supply and demand.
In 2022 Russia will have produced 674 billion cubic meters of gas, less than in 2021 when it produced 736 billion cubic meters.
By 2023, Russian gas production is expected to fall to 620 billion cubic meters.
Source: DN
