Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian gas giant Gazprom, will be able to swiftly raise its crude oil production in line with the OPEC+ deal for unwinding the collective cuts, one of Russia's top oil-producing companies told Reuters in an email on Friday.
Gazprom Neft has many oil wells, at which it had reduced production because of the OPEC+ production quotas. In addition, some oil wells have been sitting idle since last year, the company told Reuters.
Last year, Gazprom Neft reduced its liquids production by 4 percent because of the OPEC+ deal. But the company is also one of the key drivers of Russia's potential to raise production because of its plan to boost output at several oilfields.
Russia, the leader of the non-OPEC group in the OPEC+ alliance, currently pumps somewhere around 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and another roughly 900,000 bpd in condensates, which are not included in Russia's quota.
Russia saw its oil production rise for the first time in three months in July as OPEC+ continued to ease the production cuts and planned maintenance at some Russian oilfields ended.
Russia's compliance with the OPEC+ deal will be around 100 percent in July, Deputy Prime Minister and chief oil negotiator, Alexander Novak, said earlier this month.
Russia can boost its oil production in August by 100,000 bpd, as per the parameters in the OPEC+ deal agreed in July, Novak added.
The deputy prime minister said after OPEC+ sealed the deal that Russia could return to pumping 10.5 million bpd by May 2022, and at a later stage, raise crude production to 11.5 million bpd, depending on the global oil market.
Some Russian analysts, however, told Reuters that they doubt the country could be able to reach and sustain a crude oil production level of 11.5 million bpd.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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