Russia: Oil Market Is Balanced With Demand Slightly Exceeding Supply

The oil market is fairly balanced at present with demand slightly exceeding supply, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Wednesday. Russia, as OPEC’s key partner in the OPEC+ production deal, is ramping up its oil production between May and July, as per the group’s agreement to gradually return over 1 million bpd to the market between May and July. The alliance, which decided in early April to start boosting production as of May, reiterated its view that demand would be rising and able to…