Russia is likely to increase its crude oil exports when that happens the European Union Import ban on its fuel leads to lower refinery throughput.

What happened: “If there are problems in selling petroleum products, oil refining can be replaced to some extent with additional oil exports,” the deputy prime minister said Alexander Novak said according to to a Bloomberg report citing his interview with Tass.

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There’s still a chance the EU ban won’t affect Russian oil refining at all, Novak added.

Repeating his earlier estimates, Novak said Russia will produce at least 490-500 million tons of oil next year. This year, Russia’s production could reach 535 million tons of oil, Novak said in an interview with TV channel Rossiya-24 on Friday, according to the report.

Crude oil futures were higher on Friday on reports that Russia may cut oil production.

Novak reportedly told state television that Russia could cut oil production by 500,000 to 700,000 barrels a day in response to price caps on the country’s exports imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. it would mean a production cut of 5-7%.

Price promotion: That United States Brent Oil Fund BNO closed up 2.96% on Friday, while the Vanguard Energy Index Fund ETF VDE closed 3.29% higher.

Continue reading: Putin is ready to negotiate “some acceptable outcomes” to end the war and blames Ukraine and allies for a lack of determination