Russia will not immediately raise oil output after the United States ends sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian crude in May, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday, Daily Sabah reports.
The U.S. announced this week that, in a bid to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero, it would from May 2 end U.S. waivers that countries such as India, China, South Korea and Turkey currently have on buying Iranian crude.
"We have an agreement with OPEC to maintain production at a certain level and this agreement is in force until July," Putin told reporters on the sidelines of a summit in Beijing.
"I can't imagine how the world energy market will react" after the waivers end in May, Putin said.
But, he added, "none of our partners, including Saudi Arabia, is withdrawing from our agreements within OPEC."
