Russian oil and gas production remains at post-Soviet highs in April

Energy Ministry data showed that oil and gas condensate production in Russia is the largest in the world, remaining at a post-Soviet record level of 10.71 billion barrels per day throughout April, boosted by the recent recovery in oil prices. World oil prices jumped 21 percent in April to over $ 66 a barrel on slower drilling operations and rising political tensions in the Middle East, before falling from a peak of $ 115 a barrel last June.

The fall in prices significantly harms the Russian economy, which depends on oil and natural gas, which provide about half of the federal budget revenues. Russia's GDP contracted 3.4 percent in March on an annualized basis. The data show that oil and gas condensate production in Russia amounted to 43.830 million tons in April. A delegation from the Russian Energy Ministry will visit Vienna next month to meet with officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. So far, Russia, which is not a member of OPEC, has failed to convince OPEC to cut oil production to support prices.

Last month, OPEC oil supplies jumped to their highest level in more than two years, driven by near-record deliveries from Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Rosneft, Russia's leading oil producer, cut oil production by 0.1 percent in April to 3.81 million barrels a day. Exports of Russian oil through the pipeline monopoly Transneft fell by 0.7 percent to 4.4 million barrels per day, or 18.021 million tons in April.

Russia plans to increase its crude oil exports in the coming years, and the Energy Department expects exports to increase by 3 million tonnes this year. Natural gas production totaled 52.64 billion cubic meters or 1.75 billion cubic meters per day, up from 1.78 billion cubic meters per day in March. The Energy Department did not release gas output figures from Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer.