Russia has been cutting oil production by 500,000 barrels per day or about 5% of output in March, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced today, sending oil prices soaring and creating more problems for the EU and West.

The Russians, who have managed to weather the effects of the sanctions imposed by the West relatively well, continue to sell their oil to India and China which in turn will resell it to… the Europeans.

This means the Europeans will be buying at much higher costs which will impact their high-energy import-dependent industries dearly.

The West has put a ceiling on the prices of Russian oil and Russian oil products.

“We are currently selling the full volume of oil produced, however, as we have stated earlier, we will not sell oil to those who directly or indirectly subscribe to the principles of the ‘price ceiling,'” Novak said in a statement.

“Regarding this, Russia will voluntarily cut production in March by 500,000 barrels per day. This will contribute to the restoration of market relations”, he added.

In June last year, the European Union agreed to phase out all seaborne imports of Russian crude oil within the following six months as part of unprecedented Western sanctions aimed at reducing Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

Brent prices rose after news of production cuts from Russia, which is the world’s second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. They registered an increase of more than 2% in a day to reach 86.36 dollars a barrel.

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