Oil and gas output figures released

Russia produced 34.7m tons of oil in November 2003, a 10.1 percent advance against November 2002, the Russian State Statistics Committee reported. The volume of initial refining of oil grew by 2.2 percent to 16m tons. Some 2.6m tons of gasoline and 4.6m tons of diesel fuel were produced last month.

Russia's natural gas production amounted to 52.2bn cubic meters in November 2003, a 4.5-percent growth against November 2002. Some 1.2m tons of gas condensate were produced.

The average daily oil output increased in 24 out of 34 oil producing regions in Russia in the period from January to November 2003 compared to the corresponding period of 2002.