Oil Markets Pay Scant Attention to Russia

MOSCOW


Having plunged to a third of last summer’s peak, oil prices have stabilized lately. They remained strong in the past week despite a March 15 decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to leave production quotas unchanged until at least May.

The market is focused on the possibility that slumping economic growth will hit demand for energy in the world’s biggest oil consumers, the U.S. and China.

But little attention is being given to Russia, where crude-oil output fell last year after a decade of increases. Russian producers pay high taxes, which leave them with limited cash to spend on maintaining fields and bringing new production online. Meanwhile, tight credit markets are slowing the flow of loans to the sector.

Wall St. Journal