Russia’s Oil Output to Remain at High Level Despite Western Sanctions - Fitch

Russian exports of crude oil including condensate and oil products exceeded 70% of gross liquids production volumes in 2015, making Russia a key global exporter of liquids and oil products, according to the report of Fitch credit rating agency.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's oil production is likely to remain at record-high level despite sanctions introduced by western countries against Moscow, Fitch credit rating agency said on Wednesday.

"Western sanctions imposed in 2014 have had only a limited impact on oil output so far. Russian exports of crude oil including condensate and oil products exceeded 70% of gross liquids production volumes in 2015, making Russia a key global exporter of liquids and oil products. Fitch expects Russia to remain a major crude and oil products exporter," Fitch said.

According to Fitch’s "Russian Big Oil Overview" report, Russian oil production in October averaged 11.2 million barrels per day, which is a post-Soviet record.

Fitch also said that negative effect of Russian taxation proposals in 2016, in particular, introducing a higher mineral extraction tax, could be manageable.