Russia's oil output rose in early May from April and production has stabilized, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on May 9, news agencies reported, after output fell in April in the wake of western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis.

He didn't provide details on production.

"Looking at the figures of early May, they are better than in April. The situation is stable, the output increased in comparison to April. We are counting on partial recovery of data in May and that it will be better," Novak was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

Russian oil production has faced headwinds from western sanctions over what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The U.S. has banned Russian oil imports, while western sanctions against Russian banks and vessels crippled the oil trade, one of Moscow's key sources of revenue. The EU is also considering fully banning Russian oil.

Interfax news agency, citing a source familiar with the data, said last week that Russian oil and gas condensate production declined in April by almost 4% year on year to 41.12 million tonnes, which amounted to around 10.05 MMbb/d for the whole month.

It has also said oil and gas condensate output on May 1-3 edged up by 2% from April to 1.402 million tonnes per day (10.28 MMbbl/d).

Novak also said Russia was considering expanding capacity of its oil-exporting ports and the ESPO pipeline in Russia's far east, according to the reports after President Vladimir Putin ordered the diversification of Russian oil exports to tackle sanctions.

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