(Bloomberg) -- Russia’s own data show its crude production in December fell below its OPEC+ target, according to people familiar with figures from the country’s Energy Ministry.
The nation pumped 8.971 million barrels a day of crude last month, the people said on condition of anonymity because figures aren’t public. That’s 7,000 barrels a day below Moscow’s pledge for December.
The Energy Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment sent during public holidays in Russia.
Better compliance with production cuts has been a focus for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, as the alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia delayed the revival of its oil output several times amid a looming surplus. Last month, OPEC+ pushed back the increase to April and agreed to unwind the curbs at slower pace than previously planned.
Russia has pledged to cut its crude production by a total of 971,000 barrels a day from the baseline of 9.949 million barrels a day.
OPEC+ laggards, which have included Russia, Kazakhstan and Iraq, have also pledged compensation cuts to make up for earlier overproduction. Moscow won’t make those additional curbs in winter due to challenging climate conditions and the geology of its oil fields, scheduling the extra cuts for summer instead.
At the last OPEC+ meeting, members agreed to extend the compensation period to June 2026 and the laggard countries were set to submit updated monthly production schedules through to December.
Russia classified its official oil output data after Western sanctions targeted its key energy industry following the invasion of Ukraine. That left oil market watchers with just a few indicators, such as seaborne oil exports and domestic refinery runs, to follow trends in the industry.
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