Novak: Russia will cut oil production by half a million barrels per day in March

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, on Friday, that Moscow intends to voluntarily reduce its oil production by 500 thousand barrels per day, or about five percent, in March, after the West applied a ceiling to Russian oil prices.

The Group of Seven, the European Union and Australia agreed to ban the provision of marine insurance, financing and brokerage services for Russian oil transported by sea, which has a price of more than $ 60 a barrel, as of December 5, as part of Western sanctions on Moscow because of the war in Ukraine.
The European Union also imposed a ban on purchases of Russian oil products and set a price ceiling, starting from the fifth of February.
“As of today, we sell our entire oil production, however, as we mentioned earlier, we will not sell oil to those who directly or indirectly adhere to the price cap,” Novak said in a statement.
And he added, “Russia will voluntarily reduce its production by 500 thousand barrels per day in March. This will contribute to restoring relations with the market.”
Novak said, “Russia believes that the ‘price ceiling’ mechanism in selling Russian oil and petroleum products is interference in market relations and a continuation of the West’s destructive energy policy.”
Despite many expectations of a decline due to Western sanctions, Russian oil production rose 2 percent last year to 535 million tons (10.7 million barrels per day), thanks to a jump in sales to Asia, especially to India and China.
But after a series of new Western sanctions, Russia faces more challenges in maintaining the volume of its oil production, which is a major source of state revenues.