The Energy Ministry of Russia estimates that oil and gas production in 2013 will rise. Alexander Novak, the Energy Minister, declared that the Ministry’s goal is to raise oil production by 0.7 percent to the level of 522 million tons. Gas production is expected to rise by 2.6 percent to reach the volume of 672 billion cubic meters for the year.

According to the Energy Minister, the most significant events during the current year were the introduction of tax breaks for offshore fields and tight oil, the adoption of a formula for calculating the mineral extraction tax, as well as the liberalization of the LNG export regime. Furthermore, the Ministry took measures to encourage the use of gas as motor fuel. According to the Central Dispatching Department of the Fuel and Energy Complex, the leading Russian enterprise that collects and processes current information on domestic fuel and energy industries, a total of 478.3 million tons of oil was produced in the country from January to November. If the same production rates continue through the month of December, total yearly production will stand at 522.6 million tons.

The Energy Ministry does not expect drastic changes in the price of oil during the next several years. The oil market increases by one million barrels of oil every day. The U.S. is partially responsible for increasing the oil supply due to higher rates of shale production. Oil production in the Middle East and in Africa is decreasing because of difficult political and economic conditions. The demand for oil in the Asia-Pacific countries is expected to be higher than in other regions due to that area’s above-average growth rates.

Geological exploration for oil and gas was conducted at 145 sites throughout Russia. Recovery operations were completed at 47 sites. According to Rosnedra, Russia’s subsurface resources agency, Russia’s reserves are 7.3 billion tons. The reserves figure increased some 2.4 billion tons in the course of 2013.