"We do not agree with the fact that Bloomberg misrepresented information, based on an incomplete quotation, declaring Russia's disagreement with the possibility of making decisions at a future meeting. Russia will engage in discussions with partners to determine what is best for the market while adhering to all previous decisions," Novak told reporters on Thursday.
OPEC+ meetings are aimed at a comprehensive discussion of the energy market conditions and reaching consensus on further actions to achieve the market balance, the deputy prime minister said.
"This is a systematic approach, which will also serve as the basis of the OPEC+ meeting in June, where decisions can be made if necessary," Novak added.
Earlier this week, Novak told Russian newspaper that no new steps were expected to be taken at the OPEC+ in-person meeting on June 4 in Vienna. Meanwhile, in the wake of Novak's interview, Bloomberg reported that Russia had "underestimated" a possibility of OPEC's next production cut.
In April, Novak said that Russia had forecast a 3.7%-decline in oil and condensate production in 2023 to 515 million tonnes from 535 million tonnes year-on-year, adding that Russia observed no need to deepen OPEC+ production cuts due to slower-than-expected demand growth in China and lower oil prices.
OPEC+ cut oil production by 9.7 million barrels per day in May 2020 due to a drop in oil demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In August 2022, the alliance started the final stage of canceling these cuts, but in November it cut the production once again by 2 million barrels per day from the maximum possible level of August. This decision is valid until the end of 2023.
