According to Reuters article published on February 10, 2023, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday there were risks that Russia's oil production could drop in 2023, under the pressure of a European Union embargo and a G7 price cap on Russian oil, Russian news agencies reported.
Russian oil production defied numerous predictions of a decline amid Western sanctions over Ukraine and rose by 2% last year to 535 million tonnes (10.7 million barrels per day) thanks to a jump in sales to Asia, especially, to India and China.
However, following a raft of new sanctions from the West, Russia is facing more challenges in holding up its production of oil, a key source of revenue for the state budget.
"Yes, there are such risks ... we will evaluate them in the nearest future," Novak said when asked about a possible oil production decline this year, TASS news agency reported.
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.
The EU also slapped a ban on purchases of Russian oil products and set price caps from Feb. 5.
Russian oil producers increased output by almost 1% in the first week of February from January, despite the Western embargoes, the Kommersant daily reported on Thursday, citing data from an unidentified source.
