“Moscow is ready to resume gas supplies to Europe through the Yamal-Europe pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told state TASS news agency,” reported Reuters.

“Novak, in remarks published by the agency on Sunday, also said that Moscow expects it will have shipped 21 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe in 2022,” adds Reuters.

The policymaker was previously quoted saying that Russia will be able to produce at least 490-500 million tonnes of oil in 2023. “Russia will produce such volumes of oil even under the new EU oil embargo imposed on December 5, and after a similar measure on oil products starts working on February 5,” adds Reuters to the news.

Despite signaling an increase in oil, Russia’s Novak suggested a slump in gas output and exports during 2022. “Russia will reduce natural gas production and exports in 2022 due to the shutdown of export infrastructure, TASS news agency cited Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Monday,” per Reuters.

"Gas production by the end of the year will be 12% less than in 2021, and exports will drop by about a quarter. This is primarily due to the shutdown of export infrastructure," Novak said an interview with TASS, the Reuters news added.

Market implications

The news should have probed the WTI crude oil buyers around the three-week high near $80.00.