Russia produced an average of 9.798 million barrels a day of crude oil and condensate in March, up 0.8% from February, the Interfax news agency said Thursday, citing Ministry of Industry and Energy statistics.
The country produced 41.427 million metric tons of oil in March, Interfax said, citing data from the TsDU-TEK department of the Industry and Energy Ministry.
In the first quarter, Russia's production totaled 120.021 million tons of crude oil and condensate, down 1.1% from the same period in 2008.
The Russian government said last month it forecasts 2009 oil output at 9.68 million barrels a day, a 1.1% annual drop.
Russia's overall oil output in 2008 totaled 488.105 million tons, averaging 9.78 million barrels a day, up 0.9% on the previous year's figure.
Russia's natural gas production fell 15% in the first three months of the year to 153.363 billion cubic meters, Interfax reported.