Russia’s oil output in the first five days of May fell to 8.75 million barrels per day, close to its production target of 8.5 million daily barrels for May and June under a global deal to cut crude supplies, two sources told Reuters.
Together with gas condensate, or light oil, which is not part of Russia’s target, the country’s output was 9.5 million barrels per day for May 1-5, the first time it has fallen below 10 million since August 2009.
While the latest data, which showed production of 1.296 million tonnes per day including gas condensate, was only for the first few days since the deal kicked in on May 1, it shows Russia is following through on its pledges so far.
Reuters uses a ratio of 7.33 barrels per tonne to calculate the daily output in barrels. Russia’s gas condensate output is typically about 700,000-800,000 barrels a day.
A group of leading oil producers known as OPEC+ including Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed last month to cut crude supplies to combat the fallout from the coronavirus, which has hit economic activity and demand for fuel around the world.
Under the global pact, Russia has pledged to reduce its crude oil output in May and June by 2.5 million barrels per day from a baseline of 11 million. In April, the month before the deal came into force, Russia produced an average 11.35 million barrels per day.
