Russia's main oil-producing region of Khanty-Mansiisk (Yugra) in West Siberia boosted oil well drilling in March as it tries to keep up production capacity amid Russian output cuts, according to an industry source and industrial data seen by Reuters.

The region accounts for around of 40% of Russia's total oil production. Its deposits have been largely depleted and local producers are exploring new regions, such as East Siberia and the Arctic for tapping oil.

According to the data, the region launched 402 new wells in March, up 34% from February and a rise of 23% compared to January.

That was also up from a monthly average of 365 new wells in 2022.

Last year, the region produced around 223 million tonnes of oil and gas condensate (4.5 MMbbl/d) out of Russia's total 535 million tonnes.

Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin said last week that Russia's oil production is forecast to remain stable until 2025.

However, Russia has decided to cut its output by some 500,000 barrels per day until the year-end in order to help balance the market.

According to brokerage BCS, Russia has been increasingly using new technologies, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, as it's becoming harder to produce oil at depleted reserves. 

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