CEO: Gazprom Neft studies options to raise oil production

MOSCOW, Mar 13 (PRIME) -- Russian oil company Gazprom Neft can raise output by 45,000–50,000 barrels a day theoretically following the breakdown of the OPEC+ deal, CEO Alexander Dyukov told reporters late on Thursday.

“Speaking of Gazprom Neft, we will start raising production from April 1 as the agreement ceases to exist on April 1, and we are capable of raising production by 45,000–50,000 barrels per day within a month,” he said, adding that the increase is only a possibility, not a plan.

The company has started studying all options, and would be able to announce clear-cut plans later. “It is obvious that we have potential for raising production, and we will try to realize this potential to the maximum extent,” he said.

The company is sure that it would fulfill its investment program in 2020 as the majority of Gazprom Neft’s projects are resistant to low oil prices.

“Gazprom Neft…has been calculating sustainability of our production program and business plans, including our investment program, against low prices and against stress scenarios for a long time,” he said.

“The price of $35 is our stress scenario. The decisions we made for the production plan, for the business plan, and for the investment program – the bulk of our projects are resistant to these low prices,” he said.

The company would fulfill its investment program and production plan for 2020, but it would have to recalculate the stress scenario and make the oil price of $35 per barrel its baseline scenario, he said.

Gazprom Neft also said in a statement that it invested 13.5 billion rubles in long-term risky operator agreements in 2019, which allows it to continue preparations for the launches of fields in accordance with plans.

The company’s oil and condensate production grew by 0.5% on the year to 63.3 million tonnes in 2019.

(74.0274 rubles – U.S. $1)

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