Photo: energypolicy.ru
Russia’s Energy Ministry expects crude oil exports to rise by 20-25 mln tonnes within five years to 280 mln tonnes, whereas gas exports - to increase to 300 bln cubic meters by 2022, Minister Alexander Novak said in an article in the Energy Policy magazine.
"We project that within five years we will be able not only to maintain our positions on the global markets, but also to boost oil exports by 20-25 mln tonnes (to around 280 mln tonnes) and gas - by 40-45 bln cubic meters (to about 300 bln cubic meters by 2022)," the article said.
In 2018, Russia boosted crude exports by 2.9% compared with 2017 to 260 mln tonnes, while gas exports gained 4.9% to 220.6 bln cubic meters.
Russia exports a large part of its crude oil production, mainly to Europe, although China has emerged as a big buyer of Russian crude. Russia became the largest supplier of crude to China in 2016, surpassing Saudi Arabia for the first time on an annual basis.
For two years after 2016, Russia was the single biggest supplier of crude oil to China, but Saudi Arabia has recently regained its number-one supplier status to China ahead of Russia and Iraq.