ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. The current crisis in the global oil market is unprecedented, this has not occurred even in the last century, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
The situation in the domestic fuel market remains stable, with prices at gas stations of vertically integrated companies and most stations increasing in line with inflation, he noted.
TASS has compiled Novak’s key statements.
Situation on energy markets
The global market hasn’t yet fully felt the effects of the energy crisis due to the Middle East conflict as it’s running on fuel reserves: “Due to the remaining stockpiles, due to the fact that the market was previously in surplus, it hasn’t fully felt the potential consequences yet, within the next three months.”
A physical oil shortage could occur this year if the Middle East crisis persists as oil production in the Persian Gulf countries will not increase: “If the conflict drags on, Gulf countries’ production will not increase. Of course, there will be a shortage in a few months.”
Around 12 mln barrels of oil are not entering the global market every day: “It [large deficit] is already on the market as about 12 mln barrels are not entering supply.”
The government will closely monitor the situation on the fuel market: “The government, together with the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Energy Ministry, will closely monitor this.”
The current crisis in the global oil market is unprecedented: “Obviously, given what is happening in global markets, we see that this is truly an unprecedented crisis. This has never happened before, not even in the 20th century.”
Russia’s oil production
Russia is maximizing the utilization of its oil export infrastructure, with oil production set to increase in the future and return to previous levels: “We are naturally maximizing the utilization of our export infrastructure. As [refineries] reach operational mode, production will increase and return to previous levels.”
A number of Russian oil refineries are currently “undergoing unscheduled maintenance.”
Russia is currently producing less oil than at the beginning of the year 2026: “Currently, production is indeed somewhat lower than at the beginning of the year.”
Gas station prices
The situation in the domestic fuel market remains stable, with prices at gas stations of vertically integrated companies and most stations rising in line with inflation: “Currently, the situation is stable, and prices at gas stations of vertically integrated companies and most stations are growing at a level no higher than inflation. Therefore, the government, together with the federal center and the Energy Ministry, will closely monitor this.”
Possible ban on diesel exports
The Russian government may impose a ban on diesel fuel exports for manufacturers if necessary: “Anything is possible, and such decisions may be made as needed. There is no such need at the moment.”
OPEC+
The role of the OPEC+ deal remains significant, with countries participating in the agreement accounting for more than 40% of global oil exports: “We believe OPEC+ remains a significant player in global markets, accounting for over 50% of production and over 40% of total exports within global trade. Therefore, OPEC and our OPEC+ agreements are proving effective in smoothing out fluctuations and volatility in global markets.”
The current situation on the global oil market enables a number of OPEC+ countries to compensate for the overfulfillment of production quotas at a faster pace: “In fact, this is a standard approach (increasing quotas – TASS) as it provides an opportunity, including to those who exceed quotas for one reason or another, to more quickly compensate for the previous excess production.”
Calculations on Russia’s maximum oil production limits within OPEC+ are underway, the countries planning discuss it by the end of 2026: “These calculations are being made. Our deadline is the end of this year. And I think that at the end of the year, as part of our joint activities, we will discuss all analytical calculations being made by relevant companies.”
Russia expects to reach oil production levels within the OPEC+ quota this year: “This year we expect that we will actually have to reach the levels stipulated by the quota.”
