Alexander Dyukov, the CEO of Russian oil major Gazprom Neft, stated on Saturday that he sees no need for additional oil supply cuts by OPEC+ oil producers, Reuters reports.
OPEC+ has already agreed to voluntary output cuts of about 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter, led by Saudi Arabia’s decision to maintain a 1 million bpd voluntary reduction.
“OPEC+ has already decided on cuts, cuts actually start now, in January, on the one hand. On the other hand, we are approaching the spring season, a seasonal increase in oil demand. This will happen soon enough, in two months,” he said.
“In my opinion, at the moment there is no need (to adjust the OPEC+ deal).”
The comments come days before the OPEC+ group is set to meet on output policy.
Additionally, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov mentioned that Russia’s oil production is likely to stay broadly unchanged this year. Last year, Russian oil and gas condensate production declined slightly to 530 million metric tons (10.6 million barrels per day).
Shulginov also stated that Russia has reduced gasoline exports following an incident at the NORSI oil refinery, raising concerns about potential gasoline shortages in the country.
There are reports suggesting that the government may consider imposing an export ban on gasoline, as it did last autumn.
