Russia may cut oil production ‘automatically’ amid falling prices

DOHA, December 16. /TASS/. A possible drop in crude oil production in Russia could be an automatic reaction to the plunging oil prices, and not due to the authorities’ decision, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told journalists on Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. “We are assessing these risks that we may automatically reduce production as a result of low prices and failure to implement investment projects of the companies. We continue assessing these risks now,” Novak said. “We do not rule out that such a situation is possible,” the minister said. The Russian energy minister stressed that the possible decision to cut production could be taken by the companies themselves as they are considering plans for the next year. Crude oil accounts for one third of Russia’s export, according to the federal statistics service Rosstat. The lower the price is, the smaller incomes the oil companies have, and the lower the rate of the Russian ruble is. Oil prices entered a steep decline after the International Energy Agency, incorporating the largest oil consumers, in mid-September downgraded its world oil consumption forecast to 92.6 million barrels a day. Brent slumped to below $70 per barrel. The decline continued after the November 27 session of OPEC decided to keep oil production quotas unchanged. Read more