Russian oil production down

MOSCOW, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Crude oil production from Russia dropped 0.7 percent in 2008 compared to values from the previous year, energy ministry reports show.

Production declined 0.7 percent to 9.74 million barrels per day in 2008, with December totals showing a decline of 2.1 percent to around 815,000 bpd, the Platts news service said, quoting energy ministry reports.

November exports were down 16 percent from 2007 values to 3.53 million bpd.

Daily crude outputs from Russia declined 2.1 percent to 9.6 million bpd with daily exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan -- down 6.2 percent.

Analysts see Russia positioning itself as a world player in the gas sector, however. Moscow in December hosted the formalization of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, establishing an international gas cartel.

Moscow also heralded year-round production at its massive Sakhalin-2 oil and gas facility.

Sakhalin is set to produce liquefied natural gas by next year, giving Russia the opportunity to expand its export market exponentially.