Last month, JP Morgan said Russia would be able to maintain its oil output at pre-Ukraine conflict levels due to steady demand from China and India, but it might struggle to reroute some of its oil product exports away from Europe. Russia has so far managed to reroute oil exports from Europe to India, China and Turkey, which snapped up cheap barrels despite the Group of Seven's $60 price cap on Russian crude. Speaking about plans to set up oil storage, Sorokin said there are various projects under discussion.
He said such reserves would increase flexibility of supply,
"taking into account the current situation in international
markets, high volatility in demand and oil prices".
Russia does not currently have large oil storage, which
would give it more flexibility in production and exports.
Last year, a Russian official said that construction of
storage facilities of no less than 100 million tonnes, or more
than 700 million barrels, may take up to four years.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Alexander Smith)