Ministry of Natural Resources posts preliminary data on oil production

According to preliminary data issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the volume of oil production reached 380m tons in Russia in 2002, ministry official Alexey Khitrov announced at a board meeting at the ministry today.

According to the official, a rise in natural gas production reached 1.1 trillion cubic meters last year, which was achieved due to improved license policies and exploration operations that had been financed from both stated sources and sources of companies. Meanwhile, total allocations of the government for geological exploration operations saw a 1.5-fold fall to 30bn rubles (about $943m) last year.

According to Khitrov, the Ministry of Natural Resources needed 15bn rubles ($472m) for the further improvement of license policies and regulations for the use of natural resources.