Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia’s pledge to reduce its crude production aims to support global oil market prices.
Putin explained, during a meeting with his government via videoconference today, Wednesday: “All our decisions, including those related to voluntary production cuts, are linked to the need to support a clear price environment in global markets, by communicating with our partners in (OPEC +) .. in general, the situation completely stable.”
Russia pledged to reduce its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March from February levels, and to maintain the restrictions for the rest of the year. Moscow initially said the move was in response to Western sanctions, which included caps on its oil prices. According to the International Energy Agency, the country cut its production by only 200,000 barrels per day in April.
International Energy Agency: Russia has not implemented pledges to cut oil production
Last month, some other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including coalition leader Saudi Arabia, announced voluntary production cuts, as did Russia. Total OPEC+ restrictions are set to remove 1.66 million bpd from the market starting in May.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said last month that the main idea of the production cuts is to restore stability to the global market because OPEC and its allies saw excess supplies during their last meeting in April.
