Russia envisages a marginal increase in oil production in 2015 despite the global slump in prices, according to the Ministry of Energy’s latest projections. The oil price rout has battered Russia, one of the world’s biggest oil producers along with Saudi Arabia and the U.S., at a time when its economy was already suffering from sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the depreciation of the ruble. Russia produced an average of 10.58 million barrels of crude a day in 2014, a level of output not seen since the end of the Soviet Union. The Ministry of Energy expects average daily output in 2015 to reach 10.6 million to 10.7 million barrels a day, “approximately at the same level” as last year, a ministry spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said the government’s forecasts will be updated next week. Oil output in January reached 10.66 […]