Gazprom’s CEO claims that oil prices will stabilize soon

• Oil prices have fallen significantly over the past week, with Brent crude falling below $74 a barrel.
• Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov believes oil prices will stabilize soon despite current pressures.
• Dyukov added that OPEC+ could delay plans to increase oil production in October, which could help stabilize prices.

Oil prices will stabilize soon, Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov said on Thursday, despite current price woes that have pushed Brent below $74 a barrel.

OPEC+ could also choose to make changes to the current production cut agreement, which is due to begin the unwinding process in October, Dyukov said, but added there was no need to rush to any decision.

The current OPEC+ deal and the idea that the group may decide to cut output as planned in October is precisely what is contributing to the current oil price pressures. While any increase in production quotas – or the reversal of production cuts – would be largely offset by the recent production disruptions in Libya, the mere mention that OPEC will follow through on its plan to restore output sent prices lower.

Oil prices have fallen more than $6 a barrel in the past week, with Brent crude falling to $73.41 as of Thursday morning, from more than $80 a barrel at the same time last week.

WTI is now trading just a hair above $70 a barrel, down from nearly $76 a barrel a week ago.

The Ministry of Energy of Russia communicates the quotas established by OPEC+ to Gazprom Neft. Last year, Gazprom Neft achieved its highest ever sales revenue of 3.5 trillion rubles, with EBITDA of 1.3 trillion rubles. This performance was achieved despite sanctions and price ceilings imposed by the West.

Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said earlier in the year that the country’s oil output would remain largely flat this year at about 10.6 million barrels a day.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More top reads from Oilprice.com