Russia Vows to Meet OPEC+ Target after Exceeding Oil Output Quota in May

Russia will reach its oil production quota in June after exceeding its target output under the OPEC+ deal in May, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Thursday.

Russia slightly exceeded its OPEC+ quota in May, based on data from independent sources monitoring the agreement, the ministry said, adding that “the issue with overproduction will be resolved in June, when the target will be achieved.” The excess production volumes that Russia has pumped since April will be fully compensated for in the future, with the overproduction offset during the compensation period until the end of September 2025, the Russian energy ministry said today.

It also reiterated that “Russia remains fully committed to the fundamental principles of the OPEC+ deal.”

Last month, Russia said that it had “slightly exceeded” in April its oil output target under the OPEC+ pact and that it would compensate for the overproduction.

Last week, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia continued to cut its oil production in May per the OPEC+ agreements, in another attempt to reassure the market that OPEC+ producers are committed to the pact and to stabilizing the oil market. 

“Our reduction against April continued in accordance with our OPEC+ agreements,” Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, as quoted by Russian news agency TASS.

Asked about exact numbers for the May oil production, Novak said that the scale of the output cut would become clear in about a week. 

When the OPEC+ members announced in early March their intentions to extend the cuts into the second quarter, Russia changed its production/export cut plan and said that it would reduce supply by 471,000 bpd in the second quarter in the form of cuts to oil production and exports.

In April, Russia pledged to reduce production by 350,000 bpd and exports by 121,000 bpd. In May, the 471,000 bpd reduction would be in the form of a 400,000-bpd cut to production and 71,000 bpd cut to exports, and in June the Russian supply cut would be 471,000 bpd entirely from production reductions.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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