There is no discord between Russia and OPEC+ over Moscow's recent poor compliance with the group's production cuts, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.
The overproduction of some OPEC+ members - most notably Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia - has been an issue for the alliance, which has tentative plans to start easing part of the voluntary cuts in the fourth quarter of this year, market conditions permitting.
"We don't have any friction, as you put it," Novak told reporters in Moscow today, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax.
"We have a common goal to ensure a balanced market and compliance with the agreements," Novak said, adding that Russia is in constant contact with the ministers of the other OPEC+ producers.
"I spoke with the ministers just last week," Russia's top oil policy official said.
On Wednesday, the OPEC Secretariat said that it had received compensation plans from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia for their overproduced volumes for January to June 2024.
The cumulative overproduction in these six months was about 1.184 million barrels per day (bpd) for Iraq, 620,000 bpd for Kazakhstan, and 480,000 bpd for Russia, OPEC said.
Russia's plan envisages Moscow mostly compensating for its overproduction in the months March to September 2025.
Also on Wednesday, Russia's Energy Ministry said that the country remains fully committed to the OPEC+ agreement.
Russia exceeded production volumes in June, but output has declined in each month since April, per estimates from independent sources approved by the agreement, the ministry said.
Russia has exceeded its production quota since April and has been vowing every month since then that it would compensate for its over-the-quota output.
Russia promised to fully comply with the quota in July and to compensate for its overproduction in October and November 2024 and in the period March to September 2025, per the plan it had filed with OPEC.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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