The price of oil in the region of $55 to $70 per barrel is optimal for the oil market, said Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov.
“I think the optimal level for the market is $55-70 per barrel,” he said in an interview with Energy Intelligence.
On the one hand, the rise in oil prices is a positive development, because it helps to attract more funds that can be spent on investments in the development of hard-to-recover oil reserves, Shulginov said. On the other hand, the rise in oil prices leads to higher prices in other sectors of the economy. In addition, high prices lead to a slowdown in demand growth, the minister said.
He added that currently Russia is increasing oil production according to the OPEC + plan and has the potential for further increase. In this context, Shulginov recalled new projects, including Vostok-Oil, which is scheduled to be launched in 2024.
“We are thinking about increasing production and exploration. Our program for the development of the oil industry provides for growth and then stabilization of production until 2035,” he concluded. Commenting on plans for the Arctic shelf, the minister said that although these are expensive reserves, the resources can be used in the future.
The cost of April futures for Brent crude on February 22 exceeded $97 per barrel (+2.2%) for the first time since September 2014 on the news of Russia’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. Futures for WTI crude rose 3.65% to $93.5.