Russia’s Novak says OPEC+ may confirm or tweak its plans

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that a OPEC+ meeting of oil producers next week may confirm or tweak output plans following its decision to ease production curbs.

OPEC+ agreed on April 1 to ease oil output cuts gradually from May, after the new U.S. administration called on Saudi Arabia to keep energy affordable for consumers.

OPEC+ cut supply by a record 9.7 million bpd last year to support the market as demand collapsed. Most of those curbs remain in place even after the April 1 decision. OPEC+ holds its next policy meeting on April 28.

“We met a month ago, we discussed our action plan for the (next) three months. So, if nothing extraordinary happens, our task will be to confirm these plans and to tweak the new ones,” Novak told reporters.

He also said that the Russian government is set to discuss possible curbs on exports of gasolineto protect the domestic market.

Russian refineries annually produce 40 million tonnes of gasoline, of which around 10% is exported.