OREANDA-NEWS. Gas supplies via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline may begin in the coming months, possibly even before the end of 2019. This was reported to journalists by the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak. "I think that this should happen in the coming months. Maybe they will try to do this year, it depends on the technical nuances", the Russian minister said.

Novak also told reporters that the volume of oil production in Russia in 2019 could reach 556-560 million tons. "The forecast for oil production has not changed. We said that there will be 556-560 million tons per year, as far as I remember", he said. In the summer, Novak announced the forecast for the end of 2019 at 556-557 million tons of oil, that is, approximately at the level of 2018.

At the same time, the minister noted that a slight deviation from the forecast would not affect Russia's performance of the OPEC + transaction. "We did not change the forecast. In principle, it is not so important, the difference is half a percent. Therefore, everything is going in accordance with the agreements within the OPEC and with the plans of companies", he added.

In 2018, according to the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation, oil production in Russia amounted to 555.9 million tons. Novak previously admitted that oil production in 2019 could reach 558 million tons.