RusEnergy

02.06.2005 12:34 MSK MosNews - On Thursday, June 2, the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry released figures which showed that in May Russian oil output rose 30,000 barrels per day compared to April and amounted to 9.33 million barrels per day. The figure still remains below a post-Soviet high that was recorded last year. These figures also mean that the period of stagnation in Russia's oil output, which experts say is mostly due to the Kremlin-led campaign against oil major Yukos, has extended into the eighth consecutive month. Having risen to a new post-Soviet high of 9.42 million barrels per day last September, oil production has since fallen due to seasonal factors, the Yukos crisis, and higher taxes. In April, output fell to 9.30 million barrels per day from 9.33 million in March. Analysts, interview by the Reuters agency, have said the slowdown in output is further confirmation that the Kremlin's breakup of Yukos and high taxation has sapped the Russian oil industry's ability to respond to booming global demand and record prices. As MosNews reported last week, Russia's Economy Ministry cut its 2005 gross domestic product growth forecast to 5.8 percent from 6.5 percent, citing slower oil growth as the main reason. Russian oil production has risen more than 50 percent since 1999 prompting President Vladimir Putin to set an ambitious goal of doubling the size of the economy within the next decade, a target which many analysts say is now almost impossible.