Russian oil output will grow only modestly over the next few years, and the government is considering new tax breaks to stimulate investment and boost production, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Russia, the world's No. 2 crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, would produce around 10.4 million barrels per day of oil by 2010, up from 9.8 million barrels a day this year, said Russia's Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko in an interview with the U.S. daily.
There would be no return to the stellar production growth of earlier this decade, when output soared by more than 10 percent a year, warned the minister.
However, Russian ministers are considering a proposal to extend a tax holiday currently enjoyed by companies working in eastern Siberia to offshore regions, according to the Russian official.
The break has already been applied to mature oilfields requiring costly enhanced oil-recovery techniques to make sure they keep producing, and the Russian government also wants to reduce a domestic excise tax on refined products, Khristenko added.
Worries about tight supply have helped push oil to just shy of 100 dollars a barrel this month, though it has retreated slightly in the past few days.