Min: Russia’s oil output growth not to hurt production freeze deal

MOSCOW, Apr 4 (PRIME) -- Growth of Russia’s oil output in March does not mean it will reject a deal to freeze production with oil producing countries, as average daily output will not exceed January figures, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on April 2.

“In general, I think that some month-on-month volatility is possible, but the main thing is that average daily output does not exceed the average figure for January,” he said.

In March, Russia’s oil output rose to 46.169 million tonnes from 46.066 million tonnes in January.

In February, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Venezuela agreed to freeze 2016 oil output at the January level if other oil producers join the initiative. Ecuador, Algeria, Nigeria, Oman, Kuwait, and the UAE were among the countries which expressed readiness to join the initiative.

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