MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) -- Russia's largest independent producer LUKoil expects domestic oil production to slow and even start to fall, a company vice president said on Friday.
Leonid Fedun said the fact that there were no auctions of new oil fields being carried out and licenses for the shelf were being handed over to state-controlled companies would lead to stagnation and then decline in oil production in Russia.
However, he said LUKoil was optimistic regarding its own production levels due to Caspian and other foreign projects.
He said he hoped demand for petroleum products in Russia would subsequently be restored to 2007 levels and growth would reach 5-7% a year.
A Russian government source said on Wednesday domestic oil output should reach up to 535 million tons (3.93 bn bbl), and gas production will grow to 880-940 billion cubic meters annually by 2030.
Oil exports should rise to 329 million metric tons by 2030, mostly due to a planned increase in crude supplies to the east of 20%-25% from the current 6%.
Igor Sechin, a Russian deputy prime minister in charge of the fuel sector at the Russian government, said earlier the country planned to produce 490 million metric tons (3.6 billion bbl) of oil in 2010. The Economic Development Ministry forecast earlier that crude output would drop 1.1% to 482 million metric tons (3.54 bln bbl) in 2009.
Russia produced 488 million metric tons (3.59 bln bbl) of oil in 2008.
The country is expected to produce 620-644 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2009. Last year, gas production rose 1.6% to 663 bcm, according to the statistics service.
