Russia was the world’s second-largest producer in the first five months of this year after the United States, data from Rosstat, the state statistics bureau, has revealed. The country produced an average of 10.18 million barrels daily between January and May, TASS reported , citing Rosstat data. This compared with 11.18 million bpd for the United States. Saudi Arabia remained third, producing consistently below 9 million barrels daily over March, April, and May. Russia was one of the big winners from the latest OPEC+ deal adjustments, which allowed it to increase its oil production quite substantially without returning to pre-deal levels, however. Those were over 11 million bpd, last produced in late 2018, but since then, Russian oil companies have been restricted by the OPEC+ deal. Yet despite their willingness to pump more, Russian producers are finding it hard to restart idled wells, Reuters reported last month, citing unnamed […]