Russian government orders suspension of oil and gas production statistics

The Russian government has ordered the suspension of publication of statistics on oil and gas production in Russia until the beginning of April next year. The TASS news agency reported this today, citing a government decree.

Under the decree, the ban will apply to production data for March this year and the first quarter. Since launching its attack on Ukraine, Moscow has suspended or delayed publication of various key statistics, Reuters reported.

Russia launched its attack on Ukraine on 24 February last year. It subsequently became the target of extensive economic sanctions imposed by Western countries.

The European Union, together with the G7 group of advanced economies and Australia, introduced a price cap of 60 dollars per barrel for Russian oil transported by sea on 5 December last year. If this limit is exceeded, transporting the oil and insuring its transport are prohibited. Price caps on Russian oil products also came into effect on 5 February.