In March 2008, Russia could not succeed in increasing its output for the third month in a row. The country closed the first quarter with a 1% production decline with a total oil output of 9.76 million barrels per day.
Oil output has come down since 2003 due to an escalating tax burden and increasing state takeover of the sector.
According to Leonid Fedun, vice president of oil company Lukoil, companies will have to invest billions of dollars in exploring new fields in order to sustain levels of 8.5 million to nine million barrels a day over the next 20 years.
To tone down the loss from the declining fields in western Siberia, big investments must be made in eastern Siberia, the Caspian Sea and in the Arctic seas.
