Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak pointed out on Friday that Russia is planning to ban oil deliveries to countries requiring compliance with the oil price cap and is ready to cut oil production by 5-7% in early 2023 as a response measure to the price cap imposed by the West on Russian crude oil.

Novak reminded of Russia's planned decree that will respond to the oil price cap set by the G7 countries and the European Union.

"A ban on the supply of oil and oil products to those countries and those entities that will require compliance with the oil price cap in the contracts is a part of that decree," the Russian diplomat said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

"We are ready to partially reduce [oil] production; at the beginning of the next year, we may have a decrease of some 500,000-700,000 barrels a day. This is about 5-7% for us," Novak explained, highlighting that this volume is insignificant, but "such risks exist."

Oil production in Russia to rise, gas production to drop

In the same context, Novak pointed out that oil production in Russia will increase by 2% to 535 million tons and oil refining will increase by 5%, but the gas output will decrease by 18-20% to 671 billion cubic meters by the end of 2022.

"By the end of the year in the oil industry, we will even have a 2% increase in production to 535 million tons compared to last year. We will produce about 5% more petroleum products than last year," the Russian Deputy Prime Minister told Rossiya 24.

He added that "there is a partial decrease in the gas industry, about 18-20%. Nevertheless, our gas industry will produce 671 billion cubic meters of gas this year. This is also a large volume, of which about 470 billion cubic meters will go to the domestic market."

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the application of special economic measures in the sphere of natural gas supplies due to unfriendly actions of the US and countries and organizations joining such actions.

On the same day, the Russian leader considered that the introduction of a price cap on natural gas "will not lead to anything good," adding that the cap is "another attempt at administrative regulation of prices."

Putin warned that the price cap on Russian oil may lead to the disintegration of the world’s energy sector and skyrocketing prices.

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