MOSCOW: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that the situation with oil output and exports in the country is stable, despite Western price caps and sanctions.

The G7 economies, the European Union and Australia agreed to ban the use of Western-supplied maritime insurance, finance and brokering for seaborne Russian oil priced above $60 per barrel from Dec. 5 as part of Western sanctions on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.

Novak did not elaborate on output and exports volumes. Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, produced 535 million tonnes (10.7 million barrels per day) of crude last year, up from 524 million tonnes in 2021.

“All the necessary measures were taken, by our companies, first of all, to find new supply chains, markets, transportation of our oil - it finds its demand in other markets,” Novak said.

OPEC+ seen sticking with oil output policy, delegates say

“I will not name them specifically, because the situation today requires great confidentiality,” he added.

Speaking to Rossiya-24 TV station after an online meeting of top ministers from the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries, he also said the current level of oil prices was acceptable, while demand may improve as China is recovering from COVID.

An OPEC+ panel endorsed the oil producer group’s current output policy at a meeting on Wednesday.