Russian oil output continues to slide in March

Russian oil output has continued to decline in March, reaching the level of 11.068 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first 13 days of the month, two energy industry sources told Reuters on Tuesday. This was down from 11.083 million bpd on March 1-5 and 11.11 million bpd in February and January. According to Reuters calculations, the accumulated cuts from October level reached 179,000 bpd.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other large producers led by Russia agreed late last year to reduce their total oil output by almost 1.8 million bpd in the first half of 2017 to boost the price of crude, a key source of revenue. Of that, Russia pledged to cut 300,000 bpd, with 200,000 bpd of reductions in the first quarter. This compares to output of 11.247 million bpd in October last year, taken as the baseline for the global deal. In tonnes, Russian oil output has averaged 1.510 million tonnes on March 1-13.