RUSSIA EXECUTES THE AGREEMENT

PLATTS - Russia is planning to fully comply with its commitment to cut oil output under the OPEC/non-OPEC deal this month, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday, the Prime news agency reported.

Novak's comments come after March production data released Monday showed that Russia did not meet its target of cutting 300,000 b/d against October 2016 volumes last month.

"In general, we are already seeing in the first days of April that we are meeting the agreement in full, that is we are aiming to continue implementing the agreements. I think that we will implement our agreements until our goals are reached," Novak told reporters in Ankara, according to the Prime news agency.

"When I say that we will meet our obligations in full, that means [the full cut of] 300,000 b/d," Novak said, according to the report.

Novak's comments come after data released by the energy ministry Monday indicated that Russia's compliance fell short of its commitments in March.

Russia produced 46.389 million mt, or around 10.969 million b/d, of crude oil and condensate in March, according to preliminary data released by the Central Dispatching Unit, the statistical arm of the Russian energy ministry.

According to S&P Global Platts calculations, Russian output in March was 278,000 b/d below October 2016's 11.247 million b/d, which is used as a baseline for the OPEC /non-OPEC production cut agreement.

Since the deal came into force, there has sometimes been a discrepancy between energy ministry estimates given in barrels and the S&P Global Platts estimate, which is based on the CDU metric ton figure converted using a rate of 7.33 barrels a metric ton.

Figures released by the Russian energy ministry in barrels traditionally show higher compliance, as they are based on individual metric ton to barrel conversion rates for each field.

In March however, the energy ministry said that compliance was at 93.4%, with the cut in barrel terms around 280,220 b/d. Novak said Monday this was "due to the high demand for gas, as well as seasonal factors on the domestic market."

This was the first time since Russia reached its 300,000 b/d target at the end of April 2017 that the energy ministry has reported less than 100% compliance with the agreement. The deal came into force at the beginning of 2017, but Russia agreed to implement its cut gradually.

Novak is part of a government delegation led by Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting Turkey. In addition to bilateral talks between Russia and Turkey, Putin is set to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during the visit.

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Earlier:

2018, April, 2, 09:25:00 LONG-TERM OPEC COOPERATION SHANA - Leaders of the UAE, OPEC’s biggest producer Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia support extending energy cooperation beyond 2018. Cooperation on the part of a politically influential oil producer like Russia would add to the weight and influence of OPEC in global energy markets, both politically and in terms of decision-making.

2018, March, 30, 11:25:00 OPEC - RUSSIA ALLIANCE REUTERS - “We are working to shift from a year-to-year agreement to a 10 to 20 year agreement,” the crown prince told Reuters in an interview in New York late on Monday. “We have agreement on the big picture, but not yet on the detail.”

2018, March, 30, 11:20:00 OPEC REDUCES SUPPLY REUTERS - OPEC, Russia and several other non-OPEC producers have curbed output since January 2017 to erase a global glut of crude that had built up since 2014. They have extended the pact until the end of 2018, and meet on June 22 to review policy.

2018, February, 27, 14:00:00 OPEC - RUSSIA COOPERATION PLATTS - "I think we are seeing more cooperation, and my hope is that this group of OPEC and non-OPEC will incentivize the adequate investments among themselves to ensure we have adequate supply in the market," he said. "My worry is not an oversupply. My worry is an undersupply. Everyone is expecting that we will have more demand coming in the future."

2018, February, 16, 23:30:00 SAUDIS - RUSSIA AGREEMENT FT - Crude producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia will aim to draft an agreement to formalise their partnership for oil market co-operation by the end of 2018, the UAE’s energy minister said.

2018, February, 14, 10:10:00 RUSSIA - OPEC RELATIONSHIP PLATTS - "We understand that global demand for oil will continue to grow rapidly and this demand will need to be met, so we will likely need to work together, including on upstream technology and joint projects to meet this growing demand," Novak said.

2017, December, 4, 23:10:00 SAUDI ARABIA - RUSSIA COMPROMISE REUTERS - The outcome represents a successful compromise between de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia (which wanted to announce an extension throughout 2018) and non-OPEC heavyweight Russia (which wanted to avoid giving such a long commitment).