Russian daily oil production up in June

Russian oil and gas condensate output reversed a downward trend in June, rising 0.2 percent from May to 10.55 million barrels per day (bpd), thanks to privately owned firms Lukoil and Bashneft, Energy Ministry data showed.

Russia is still the world's biggest oil producer, followed by Saudi Arabia with production at 9.85 million bpd last month, according to a Reuters survey.

But unlike Riyadh, Moscow is pumping at near capacity and has started to explore for shale oil as a substitute for declining production in western Siberia, which still accounts for the bulk of Russia's total crude output.

"The decline which lasted five months has stopped, but the tendencies remain the same - the reduction of the new deposits' potential to substitute for falling production at old western Siberian fields," said Valery Nesterov, an analyst at Sberbank CIB.

Russia in recent years has started production in remote new fields in eastern Siberia and the Arctic.

Copyright, Reuters, 2014.