Russia output up 10% for 7 months

Allen Baker

Russia’s liquids production rose 10.3 percent to 263 million tons for the first seven months of the year, according to Interfax, the Russian news agency.

Oil exports to areas outside the former Soviet Union rose 21.3 percent to 104.5 million tons for the period. Those exports will now be subject to a duty of $69.90 per ton, up 68 percent from $41.60 per ton. Duties are now being calculated on a sliding scale, depending on world crude prices.

For July, the production figure was 39.45 million tons, up 4 percent from the same month in 2003.

Natural gas volumes totaled 370 billion cubic meters for the seven-month period, up 3.3 percent. Russia is now expected to bring up 453 million tons of liquids and 633 billion meters of gas for the year. The liquids figure would be a gain of 7.5 percent, while the increase in gas production would total 2.1 percent.