MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia's oil output increases over recent months have been the largest outside of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly Oil Market Report on Thursday.
"Russia has shrugged off lower prices, international sanctions and financing difficulties to become non-OPEC’s largest source of supply growth," the report reads.
The devaluation of the ruble and a tax system favoring oil producers have provided a boost to production and investment despite plunging oil prices, the report added.
"Companies have also skillfully accessed capital by pre-selling crude or divesting assets. This has allowed them to increase ruble spending and drilling and boost crude and condensate supply," the IAE said.
On Wednesday, the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report left its forecast for Russia's average daily oil supply in 2016 unchanged at 10.98 million barrels per day. The report also noted that the Russian oil industry has fared well so far, with both production and investments on the rise despite continued low global oil prices.
Most oil-producing countries have been hit by the collapse in prices, which plunged from $115 to less than $30 per barrel between June 2014 and January 2016, hitting their lowest levels since 2003. Prices have since recovered to around $40-45 per barrel for the Brent crude benchmark.
