LONDON -- Less than two months after it agreed to curb crude production to keep in line with output limitations set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, oil officials in Russia, said it they are looking to maximize exports of refined products such as gasoline and diesel.
Traders fear that pressure from Russian oil companies to scrap the cuts and hike exports could prevail over policy makers, opening the way for a possible price war with OPEC, Reuters reported yesterday. After a meeting with private oil companies, Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov said the country should shift from the export of crude oil to the "maximum export of oil products."
The Kremlin says that only crude oil is affected by the cut, which was meant to trim exports by five percent for three months from January 1, but OPEC says both crude and refined oil should be considered. OPEC is lobbying Russia to extend the limits for another three months, and said on Wednesday it would send a high-level delegation to Moscow in the first week of March.
Preliminary estimates show Russia actually increased exports of crude oil and products in January from the previous month, but they were below original plans.
Meanwhile, despite drastic curbs by OPEC and other exporters, stocks in the United States grew last month to their highest level in two-and-a-half years. A mild winter in the Northern Hemisphere combined with the global economic downturn has dampened demand for oil, leaving U.S. inventories running at the highest levels since August 1999.
