Oil production declines in Russia for the first time since April

In August, oil and condensate production in Russia declined by 170,000 barrels per day compared to July — to 10.96 million. At the same time, global oil production increased by 790,000 barrels per day, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, RIA Novosti reports.

For Russia, this is the first decline since April. Oil production in the world has been growing for three consecutive months mainly owing to the countries that are not members of OPEC+.

The IEA slightly lowered its forecast for average oil production for the current year — to 99.7 million barrels per day due to local quarantines in China and the economic downturn in the OECD countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Until the end of the year, especially since the entry of the EU oil embargo into force, Russian oil production will continue declining, IEA experts say. At the beginning of 2023, they predict, the production will reach about 9.6 million barrels per day.

The report also says that Russia earned $17.7 billion from oil exports in August, which was the lowest since March of the current year. The Russian Ministry of Finance also reported a decline in oil and gas budget revenues to the lowest level since June 2021 (672 billion rubles).

Interestingly, information about Russian oil production and oil exports has been classified since April.

Overall budget revenues have been declining against such a background for two consecutive months. Budget revenues dropped by 26 percent in annual terms in July and by 11 percent — in August.