Russia oil production to 540m tons

Russia’s production of oil will remain at the same levels of 2012 at least, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday. Russia currently produces 518 million tons but the Minister of Energy said that they seek to increase their oil production from 530 to 540 million tons by 2030. The Russian Minister said that he was against supplying Europe with LNG to avoid competition with Gazprom’s natural gas supplies. He stated that the Asian market was their priority at the moment. Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Minister today saying that Russia’s largest independent gas producer Novatek had recently discussed LNG supplies with Chinese, South Korean and Japanese partners.