Russia cuts oil output in April, sources say
The sharpest monthly decline in Russia’s production in the last six years since the Covid-19 outbreak may have reduced output in April by about 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day compared to the average level seen in the first months of the year, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
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Since oil, pumped mostly from fields in the West Siberian basin, is the lifeblood of Russia’s $3 trillion economy, the decline in production is also reducing the income of the world’s second-largest exporter.
However, possible losses may be mitigated by the Iran war, which triggered a supply and production crisis in the global oil market. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said last Thursday that higher prices would help reduce the budget deficit.
Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes on Russia’s biggest Western oil ports in recent weeks, triggering massive fires while attacking refineries.
“In the face of ongoing attacks on Russia’s ports and refineries, it will be difficult to place oil without cutting production, especially with the upcoming spring maintenance shutdowns,” one of the sources told Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation. Russia’s energy ministry declined to comment.
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Russia’s oil production peaked in the late 1980s but declined after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 due to lack of investment. It then rebounded in the 2000s and 2010s, reaching its post-Soviet peak in 2019 just before the COVID pandemic.
The drop in production in April amounts to a drop of between 500,000 barrels and 600,000 barrels per day from Russia’s production levels at the end of 2025, according to sources and Reuters calculations. A monthly decline does not necessarily mean an annual decline in production.
UKRAINE ATTACKS RUSSIA OIL
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on key Russian energy infrastructure, which accounts for nearly a quarter of Russia’s budget revenue, in a bid to undermine Russia’s war economy.
According to Russian state RIA Novosti news agency, Russia shot down 11,211 Ukrainian drones in March; This figure is almost double the figure in February.
Drones have repeatedly struck the Baltic Sea ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk, as well as the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia’s main oil export gateway in the west of the country.
Russian oil refineries were also attacked. Over the weekend, Ukraine also attacked the port of Vysotsk on the Baltic Sea.
In addition to export restrictions, flows from Ukrainian territory to Hungary and Slovakia via the Druzhba pipeline remained closed following attacks on pipeline infrastructure at the end of January.
The Paris-based International Energy Agency, which advises industrialized countries, revised Russia’s oil supply forecast downwards by 120,000 barrels per day for the rest of the year due to persistent attacks on refineries and port infrastructure.
It was stated that Russia may have difficulty in increasing production above the initial levels of the first quarter in the near term due to damage to its port and energy infrastructure.
Russia’s crude production rose to 8.96 million barrels per day in March from 8.67 million barrels per day in February, according to the IEA.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries estimates that Russia’s oil production remained steady at 9.167 million barrels per day in March.
