Moscow will cut oil and gas production in 2023, mainly due to Europe’s refusal to buy Russian hydrocarbons and the inability to quickly redirect these volumes to Asia, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said on Wednesday.
“We expect that in 2023 the level (of oil production) will be somewhat lower, including through a voluntary reduction in crude oil production,” he said in a report to the Russian Duma (lower house of parliament).
Shulginov noted that “the level of gas production will continue its downward trend both due to the refusal of the European market to buy it, and due to the redirection of energy flows to the east.”
The Russian minister recalled that Russia reduced gas production in 2022 after explosions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, through which Russian gas is transported to Germany.
In 2022, Russia produced 535.1 million tons of crude oil, which exceeds the previous year’s production of 524.5 million tons.
In early 2023, following Western caps on Russian oil prices and Russia’s refusal to make deals on those terms, Russia announced that it would voluntarily cut production by 500,000 barrels a day to balance supply and demand.
In 2022, Russia produced 674 billion cubic meters of gas, which is less than in 2021, when 736 billion cubic meters were produced.
It is expected that by 2023 gas production in Russia will be reduced to 620 billion cubic meters.