Facing pressure from OPEC to make a significant output reduction, Russia reiterated its readiness to freeze oil production at current levels, arguing that the offer amounted to a cut compared with next year’s plans. A production cap would mean Russia pumping 200,000 to 300,000 barrels a day less than planned in 2017, Energy Minister Alexander Novak told reporters in Moscow on Thursday. That means a freeze would be “quite a difficult and harsh situation for us as our plans envisioned an output growth next year,” he said. OPEC, which is seeking to finalize its own supply cuts of as much as 1.1 million barrels a day next week, has asked non-members to cooperate by cutting daily production by 880,000 barrels for six months starting January, Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said in a newspaper article. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reached a preliminary agreement in September to reduce […]