Moscow forecasts lower output this year

摘要

Russia is unlikely to repeat last year’s record crude output in 2015, as oil companies rein in spending because of falling prices. Russian crude and condensate production rose by 70,000 b/d to 10.53mn b/d in 2014, a post-Soviet Union high, energy ministry data show. But Moscow forecasts crude output could fall by 5-10pc/yr over the next three years as low prices constrain firms’ spending power (see graph, left). The government is examining scenarios at $40-80/bl oil prices, although it considers $50-60/bl a more likely range, deputy economic development minister Alexei Vedev says.