Russia Boosts Oil Output to Post-Soviet High - IEA

All Russian oil companies boosted output, according to the International Energy Agency.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's oil output has reach a post-Soviet high of over 11 million barrels per day in September, the International Energy Agency (IAE) monthly Oil Market Report, released on Tuesday, showed.

"Russian crude and condensate production surged to a post-Soviet high in September, averaging 11.11 mb/d," the report reads.

All Russian oil companies boosted output, with the state-owned Rosneft energy giant alone accounting for a rise of 100,000 barrels per day and producing an average of 3.865 million barrels per day in September. The company has also launched and is planning to launch more new fields, the IAE noted.

In August's report, the IEA said that Russia's recent oil output increases have been the largest outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) despite the ongoing global price slump. The country has also managed to maintain a decent level of investment in the sector.

Despite soaring output, Russia has expressed willingness to cooperate with OPEC on freezing production at a certain level to stabilize the oil market. In late September, OPEC made a preliminary decision to limit output to under 33 million barrels per day. On Monday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia could even consider reducing output, adding that an output freeze is currently more sensible.

Most oil-producing countries have been hit by the collapse in prices, which plunged from $115 to less than $30 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2016, hitting their lowest levels since 2003. Prices have since recovered to around $45-50 per barrel for the Brent crude benchmark.