Russia lowers oil production forecast: local media

London, (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Russia has lowered its forecast for oil production this year from 560 million mt to 517 million mt, state media reported.

Citing a decree from Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, the TASS news agency said the government also expects production next year to be cut from 558 million mt to 548 million mt.

In barrels, that equates to around 10.4 million b/d for 2021 and 11 million b/d for 2022.

Last week Russia's pipeline operator Transneft said it expects to ship 8.5 m/b of crude this month, up 2.5% on the previous month.

The statement comes just a few days after the OPEC+ group of countries said they would push ahead with pre-agreed plans to ease output cuts of 7 million b/d by 350,000 in April, the same again in May and then by 400,000 b/d in June, despite falling crude oil prices.