MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has increased Russia’s oil production forecast, expected to grow up to 10.68 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2015, OPEC said in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) issued Monday.
"Russia’s oil supply is expected to increase by 10 tb/d [thousand barrels per day] to average 10.68 mb/d in 2015, revised up by 40 tb/d from the previous MOMR," the report said.
In a previous forecast, OPEC predicted Russia's oil production would decline by 30,000 barrels per day.
OPEC experts cite the late-May start of commercial operations at Russian gas company Novatek’s Termokarstovoye gas field, using condensate production, among the improvement indicators.
In early June, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the country was planning to maintain current oil production of about 10.5 million barrels per day as part of its long-term oil market strategy for global energy security.
