MOSCOW: Russia's oil output, the world's largest, edged down 0.1 percent to 10.46 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, month-on-month, on the back of a decline in production at mature fields of LUKOIL and Surgut, Energy Ministry data showed on Saturday.
This was a third monthly fall in a row after the post-Soviet high of 10.50 million bpd was reached in November, as production at new deposits, accounting for around 15 percent of total output, has failed to offset sagging output at old oilfields.
In tonnes, Russia's crude production was 39.939 million last month, the ministry said.
It was still above the production at Saudi Arabia, which pumped at an average rate of 9.2 million bpd last month, up from 9.1 million bpd in January, helping to underpin the supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which rose for the first time since October.
Russia, whose proceeds from oil gas constitute around half of budget revenues, aims to keep its crude production at no less than 10 million bpd until 2020.
The ministry data also showed that Russia's total oil exports via oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and other routes stood at 17.67 million tonnes last month, comparing to 19.08 million tonnes in January.
The production at Russia's second-largest crude producer, LUKOIL, and No.4 oil company, Surgutneftegaz , declined by 0.4 and 0.5 percent respectively.
LUKOIL has been struggling to stabilise production in West Siberia, the hinterland of Russian oil industry with mostly depleted fields, and in Timan-Pechora in the north of the country.
The company has so far been unable to secure rights for developing Russia's Arctic offshore reaches, off-limits for non-state corporations.
It has aggressively ventured overseas, including to Iraq, where it is developing a massive West Qurna-2 field.
Russia's top oil company, Rosneft, which is set to become the world's largest-listed crude producer after the $55 billion acquisition of
Anglo-Russian TNK-BP venture, bucked the trend with a 0.2 percent increase thanks to a ramp-up at its Vankor field in East Siberia.
Russia's daily natural gas production decreased 2.3 percent to 2.06 billion cubic metres (bcm) from 2.11 bcm in January.
The output at the world's largest gas producer Gazprom declined 3 percent to 1.53 bcm a day from 1.58 bcm in January, while production at Novatek, Russia's No.2 gas company, stayed flat at 0.15 bcm.
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