Russian oil companies proposed on Thursday not to change their output quotas as part of a global deal until the end of March, when the current agreement expires, putting pressure on OPEC+ to avoid any major shift in policy when the group meets next week.
They also offered to exclude production of gas condensate, a light oil, from the output quotas as Russia has been struggling to meet its supply-reduction targets in recent months.
The proposals to preserve the deal between the OPEC and non-OPEC nations until the end of March were made at a gathering with Energy Minister Alexander Novak, who will attend next week's meetings in Vienna.
OPEC and its allies have so far been expecting to extend output cuts until mid-2020, with non-OPEC producer Russia supporting Saudi Arabia's push for stable oil prices amid the listing of state oil giant Saudi Aramco.
On Thursday, Russian oil firms suggested to Novak that they meet again at the end of March to discuss the oil deal, Ravil Maganov, a first vice president of Russian oil major Lukoil , told reporters after the meeting.
"We remain in the deal with the same quotas. We will meet at the end of the first quarter to discuss. Those are (our) proposals," Maganov said.
"We will stay in the deal until the end of March," Yevgeny Tolochyok, head of Russneft, said.
Russia, other non-OPEC oil producers and OPEC nations are due to discuss their global output deal on Dec. 5-6. OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers have curbed output to balance the market and support prices for the last three years.
Russia's position on the deal is "currently a secret", Novak said.
One sticking point, however, is production of gas condensate, a high-premium light crude oil. In Russia, unlike Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers, condensate is included in its oil production data.
Last week, Novak suggested it was time to remove gas condensate from the country's overall oil statistics. On Nov. 28, he said no such decision had been taken yet.
Former Russian natural resources minister Sergei Donskoi, now a board member at Irkutsk Oil Co, said after Thursday's meeting that his company supported the idea, which may be enforced after the first quarter.
"We've got a lot of condensate," he said.
Recommended Reading
E&P Highlights: Dec. 16, 2024
2024-12-16 - Here’s a roundup of the latest E&P headlines, including a pair of contracts awarded offshore Brazil, development progress in the Tishomingo Field in Oklahoma and a partnership that will deploy advanced electric simul-frac fleets across the Permian Basin.
Aris Water Solutions’ Answers to Permian’s Produced Water Problem
2024-12-04 - Aris Water Solutions has some answers to one of the Permian’s biggest headwinds—produced water management—but there’s still a ways to go, said CEO Amanda Brock at the DUG Executive Oil Conference & Expo.
Watch for Falling Gas DUCs: E&Ps Resume Completions at $4 Gas
2025-01-23 - Drilled but uncompleted (DUC) gas wells that totaled some 500 into September 2024 have declined to just under 400, according to a J.P. Morgan Securities analysis of Enverus data.
Wildcatting is Back: The New Lower 48 Oil Plays
2024-12-15 - Operators wanting to grow oil inventory organically are finding promising potential as modern drilling and completion costs have dropped while adding inventory via M&A is increasingly costly.
Formentera Joins EOG in Wildcatting South Texas’ Oily Pearsall Pay
2025-01-22 - Known in the past as a “heartbreak shale,” Formentera Partners is counting on bigger completions and longer laterals to crack the Pearsall code, Managing Partner Bryan Sheffield said. EOG Resources is also exploring the shale.