WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said oil output from the country for 2013 should reach a post-Soviet record of 3.8 billion barrels.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Russia in 2012 increased oil output from the previous year by 1.3 percent to 518 million metric tons, approximately 3.79 billion barrels.
"This year we expect oil [output] to be about 520 million tons, despite setting a goal of pumping between 505 [million] to 510 million tons," he was quoted as saying Saturday during a meeting in Washington with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration lists Russia as the No. 3 energy producer in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and the United States.
There was no statement from the U.S. Energy Department about the visit by Novak.
Last week, Russian energy company Rosneft, one of the largest energy companies in the world, signed an agreement with its Norwegian counterpart Statoil to explore the shale oil potential in the Ural mountains of Russia.
Statoil Chief Executive Officer Helge Lund said the basin, the Domanik shale formation, "could be a world-class shale oil asset" if early exploration efforts prove successful.
The EIA in its country profile says Russia holds the world's largest deposits of technically recoverable shale oil.
