Russia is maintaining the flow of its oil to world markets and thereby helping to limit the impact of the crisis triggered by the Iran war, but it has no specific initiative to propose within OPEC+, the Kremlin said on Thursday.
“At the moment, we are making our contribution to stabilizing prices and minimizing the consequences of the global energy crisis. Russia continues its oil supplies,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily conference call with reporters.
“Demand is growing, while the amount of oil offered on the market is not increasing but, on the contrary, declining. There are no other initiatives on the agenda at this time,” he said.
The world is living through the worst energy crisis it has ever faced due to the fallout from the war in Iran, according to the International Energy Agency, as rising oil prices fuel inflation.
Russia is a key player within the 22-nation OPEC+ grouping, which also includes Iran.
In recent years only eight countries of the group have been involved in monthly production decisions, and they started in 2025 to unwind previously agreed output cuts to regain market share. They will hold their next meeting on May 3.
OPEC+ agreed in early April to raise its oil output quotas by 206,000 barrels per day for May, a modest rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov Writing by Maxim Rodionov and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)