Oil production in Russia increased by almost 0.9 percent month-on-month in September to 10.61 barrels per day (bpd) largely because of increased output at joint ventures with foreign majors, Energy Ministry data showed on Thursday.
In tons, Russian oil output reached 43.411 million in September versus 44.472 million in August, a month which has one more day than September.
Oil output under production sharing agreements (PSA), designed in the 1990s to encourage investment by foreign oil companies, jumped by 24 percent in September to almost 1.23 million tons (298,844 bpd).
The ministry does not provide a breakdown of the data for the projects, which include Sakhalin-1 of Rosneft, ExxonMobil , ONGC and Sodeco; Sakhalin-2 involving Gazprom , Shell, Mitsui, and Mitsubishi ; and Kharyaga with Total, Statoil and Zarubezhneft.
Small firms, which the ministry defines as "other producers," increased their oil production by 1.5 percent, while output at Rosneft, the world's top publicly traded oil company, remained flat, at 3.8 million bpd.
Russian daily gas output rose to 1.52 billion cubic meters (bcm) per day last month from 1.38 bcm in August.
Natural gas production at Gazprom, the world's largest gas producer, jumped 14 percent from August to 968 million cubic meters a day on an increase in seasonal demand.
