Russia sets new oil output record in November

Russia produced more than 10 mm bpd of oil for the third consecutive month in November to retain its position ahead of Saudi Arabia as the world's top producer, Energy Ministry data showed.
Russian output reached 10.07 mm bpd earlier, setting a new post-Soviet record for the fourth straight month, as state-run sector leader Rosneft's Vankor field ramped up production. Russia had produced 10.04 mm bpd in October.

Russia, where oil is the key revenue earner for the budget, has reversed last year's decline in production by introducing a more benign tax regime and launching new fields in remote areas of eastern Siberia and the Arctic.
Saudi Arabia, historically the leading producer, has restricted output in line with OPEC output cuts and pumped around 8.13 mm bpd in November. The Saudi figure excludes a type of light oil known as condensate, which is included in the Russian total.

Russia is also the world's largest natural gas producer and posted a 9.7 % increase in output earlier. Daily November gas output rose to 1.93 bn cm from 1.76 bn cm in October, the ministry data showed.
Gazprom, the country's state-controlled gas export monopoly, produced 1.57 bn cmpd in November, an 8.3 % increase on the 1.45 bn cm it produced a month earlier.