Putin to Raise Russia Oil Output, Tchigirinski Says

(Bloomberg) — Russia’s oil production may rise to 12 million barrels a day after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s government eases taxes, billionaire Chalva Tchigirinski said.

“Only Putin could do it,” Tchigirinski, an owner of London- listed Sibir Energy Plc, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “He’s now in a position to take decisions that are bureaucratically long, painful and undoable in Russia.”


Putin yesterday approved a tax-cut plan to stimulate oil production that may be sent to lawmakers this week. Oil output in Russia, the world’s biggest exporter after Saudi Arabia, fell to 9.72 million barrels a day in April, its lowest level in 18 months, as costs rose to develop aging fields and to pursue new projects in increasingly remote areas.

“Russia has tremendous oil reserves and if the government will behave on the tax side there’s room to increase production,” Tchigirinski, speaking in English, said today in Moscow. “The government understands what’s in the interest of the industry now and this industry is vital.”

Blooomberg