Official: Russia’s oil output may fall to 533 mln tns in 2018

MOSCOW, Apr 19 (PRIME) -- Russia’s oil output may decrease to 533 million tonnes in 2018, First Deputy Energy Minister Alexei Teksler told PRIME in an interview on Tuesday.

“So far we assume that we will reach a maximum figure this year, and then, in 2017–2018, a small reduction (of oil output) is possible,” he said.

In 2017, the country’s oil output may amount to 537 million tonnes.

Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov said earlier on Tuesday that Russia’s oil output may increase to 540 million tonnes in 2016 from 534 million tonnes in 2015.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak earlier forecasted a 537 million tonne oil output per year in both 2016 and 2017.

Some domestic oil companies may increase capital expenditures in rubles on oil exploration and production in 2016, Teksler said. On the whole, the volume of investments will remain flat on the year.

Oil refining will decrease at least 3% in 2016, Teksler also said. “We will refine around 273–275 million tonnes compared with 282.4 million tonnes last year,” he said.

Oil exports may grow around 4% to 254–255 million tonnes in 2016, he said. “Exports will grow due to factors: lower refining and increased production,” he said.

Russian plans to raise oil exports to China 3% on the year in 2016 and is considering using the existing railroad infrastructure to increase the supplies, Teksler also said. In 2015, the exports stood at 26.68 million tonnes.

The Energy Ministry expects that the oil export duty will be reduced to 30% in 2017, Teksler said. Russia earlier approved freezing the oil export duty for 2016 at the current level of 42% instead of a planned decrease to 36%.

He also said there was no threat to a reduction of the quality of the Urals oil blend at the moment.

The government has defined the terms of privatization of oil company Bashneft, Teksler also said. The company will be privatized by the end of this year, he said without providing more specific terms. The government said earlier it planned to sell a blocking stake in Bashneft.

He also said that Chinese investors were interested in buying a stake in Russian oil major Rosneft. The privatization list for 2016 includes a 19.5% stake in Rosneft.

Teksler also said he hoped the State Duma, the parliament’s lower house, will consider a draft bill on the new taxation system in the oil industry in the autumn session.

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