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Russia in 2022 will restore oil production by 85% of the maximum reduction in May – June 2020 under the OPEC + agreement. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced this in an interview to the Russia-24 TV channel following the OPEC + meeting, where it was decided to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in February.

“For Russia, this means that in February we will reach approximately 85% recovery in production from the maximum level of reduction that was in May and June 2020. That is, we will restore 1.7 million barrels per day,” he said.

Novak added that Russia completed the deal by 97% in November. “As for the execution by Russia of the deal in November, the level was 97%. As before, we are practically fulfilling our obligations by 100%,” he said.

Impact of the pandemic

The omicron coronavirus strain is currently not affecting oil demand due to the low rate of hospitalization, so the OPEC + countries decided not to change the previously adopted parameters of the deal, Novak said. 

“We proceed from the assumption that while there are uncertainties associated with the spread of the omicron strain. Nevertheless, observation and analysis show that, despite the large increase in infections, the hospitalization rate is quite low and this does not affect the decline in demand. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to continue to fulfill its obligations, which OPEC + took upon itself in the framework of increasing production, “he said.

Novak noted that the OPEC + technical committee considered three options for the market situation in 2022: negative, optimistic and basic. “A decision was made, all countries supported it, that in February the increase in production by 400 thousand barrels per day will be continued,” he added.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, at the meeting the ministers also discussed the level of execution of the transaction. “In November last year, it was at a historical level of 122%, that is, higher than expected. This is a good indicator,” Novak said.