Russia's Tatneft Oil Giant Ready to Further Reduce Oil Output Under OPEC Deal

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Russian and Saudi energy ministers said in a joint statement that Moscow and Riyadh intended to propose a 9-month extension of the current Vienna agreement on oil output cuts on the existing conditions at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) ministerial meeting in late May. Commenting on the issue, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he met with the leaders of Russia's largest oil and gas companies and they supported the decision to prolong the oil production cut agreement.

"The actions of the Tatneft company related to the reduction of production in the framework of Russia's agreement with OPEC are carried out in coordination with the Russian Energy Ministry. We are ready to cut production, planning to achieve our expected financial result due to the increase in prices instead of boosting production volumes," the press service said.

In November 2016, the OPEC member states reached an agreement to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in the first half of 2017 to boost global oil prices. The deal prescribes the possibility of extension.

The OPEC agreement was supported by 11 non-OPEC states, which joined the deal by promising to jointly reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. Russia pledged to cut production by 300,000 barrels daily. The OPEC has already implemented its commitment while non-cartel countries have implemented over half of the agreed upon cuts.