-Russia mulls quota revision before OPEC meeting
Russia is preparing to raise the issue of production quotas at the meeting between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some oil-producing countries in Vienna on Dec. 5-6.
OPEC and non-OPEC countries reduced their oil production three years ago to balance the oil markets, however, Russia, the de-facto leader of non-OPEC producers, measures its production differently than others.
Russia, unlike Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers, also adds condensate to its crude oil production volumes.
The increase in gas condensate production in Russia, especially in winter, increases its overall oil production. For this reason, Russia is faced with an abundance of oil supplies, and therefore, wants to increase its production quota.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters last week that they will consider the process of implementing the oil production cut agreement at the OPEC meeting while acknowledging that 'the issue of oil production quotas in the OPEC agreement may come up.'
-Gazprom's net profit down 45% in Q3
The world's largest natural gas producer, Russian energy company Gazprom, saw its net profit plummet in the third quarter of this year by 45% to 212 billion rubles (approximately US$3.3 billion) compared to the same period last year. The profit plunge was due to the decrease in both natural gas export volumes and prices.
Gazprom also confirmed that its third-quarter income compared to the same period of 2018 fell by 37% to 587 billion rubles.
The company reported a net profit of 1.5 trillion rubles last year.