Bloomberg: "Russia will maintain oil output"

By Vestnik Kavkaza

The US publication Bloomberg writes today that Russia will maintain oil output for at least two years, because increased use of technology and tax breaks will counter falling prices. 

“Russian production may stay flat for the next few years and could even rise towards the end of the decade,” publication quoted an analyst at the Oxford university’s Institute for Energy Studies James Henderson.  

Russia has slowed the rate of decline in production at its mature fields to annual 2 percent from 10 percent using technologies and tax policy, Henderson said. 
“The government eased taxes on oil export, about half of national output, this year to support its largest budget earner. The state gets about half its budget revenue from oil and gas.” 

“A focus on maintaining this decline rate, which is a relatively low-cost tactic, should be the optimal way of sustaining oil output,” Henderson claimed. According to the research, mature fields account for about 9 million barrels a day. 

Should all new fields begin to work according to plan, total output may reach 11 million barrels a day by 2020, Henderson wrote. It was 10.71 million barrels a day in March, matching a post-Soviet record set in January, according to Russia’s Energy Ministry. 

Foreign companies like ExxonMobil Corp., BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA that have had a long-time relationship with Russia, promised support where they are able, he wrote. Asian companies are also gaining opportunities previously unavailable, Henderson said.