Russian Official: Russia's Mission is to Reduce Oil Supply to Global Markets

Russian news agency TASS reported on Thursday that Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that Russian companies will decide for themselves whether to cut oil production in August, but Russia's mission is to reduce supplies to global markets. Novak added that Russia is keeping its production forecast for this year unchanged at 515 million tons. Previously, Russia had reduced its oil production by 500,000 barrels per day, or nearly five percent of global output, starting in March until the end of this year. Russia needs to pump sufficient fuel into the local market to meet the increasing demand during the summer. It also needs to address the issue of rising wholesale gasoline prices, attributed to supply shortages and slowed production capacity at refineries. Novak noted that the retail price situation in Russia is "stable."