(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Russian oil production hit the latest in a line of post-Soviet highs in March, feeding higher exports that added to a global glut keeping crude prices low and hurting its economy.
The big Gulf producers of Opec have opted for holding on to market share, saying they will only cut output to raise oil prices if others - like Russia - do so too.
Russian officials say it is hard to significantly adjust output up or down due to the problems of mothballing wells in a harsh climate.
The twin state energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft brought Russia's oil output to a post-Soviet era record of 10.71mn barrels per day (bpd) in March, Energy Ministry data showed.
That topped December's high of 10.67mn bpd.
The data includes output for crude oil and gas condensate which reached 45.275mn tonnes in March, versus 40.696mn the month before.
Total oil exports via pipeline monopoly Transneft - which includes some transit supplies from neighbouring countries - rose 2% to 4.37mn barrels per day, or 18.476mn tonnes.
Russian crude oil exports through Transneft rose by 2% to 3.91mn bpd, the ministry said. Russia's energy minister told Reuters last month that crude oil exports are expected to rise this year and beyond as volumes are diverted away from domestic refineries which are cutting capacity as part of a modernisation drive.
Crude oil exports are seen rising by up to 3mn tonnes in 2015 and to 280mn tonnes per year by 2035 from 224mn tonnes in 2014.
Oil and gas condensate production at Gazprom, the world's top natural gas producer, jumped by 14% in March from February.
Rosneft, the world's largest listed oil producer by output, increased its crude oil production by 0.2% to 3.81mn bpd thanks to higher output from its Vankor field in eastern Siberia.
Gas production was at 55.52bn cubic metres (bcm) last month, or 1.79 bcm a day, versus 53.86 bcm in February, a decrease of 7% month on month.
State-controlled gas company Gazprom produced 36.11 bcm, or 1.165 bcm per day, in March, down 10.2% from February.
Analysts expected the company to increase gas exports to Europe this year, though revenues from the sales will decline due to a fall in gas prices, which tracking oil.
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