Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter The head of Russia's Gazprom Neft, the country's third-largest oil producer, shrugged off impending EU sanctions on Russian crude imports, saying his company "is prepared" to deal with them. Gazprom Neft head Alexander Dyukov declined to comment directly on the forthcoming EU oil embargo, which will ban purchases of Russian seaborne crude starting from Dec. 5. However, Dyukov said that Gazprom Neft "will work within the new realities." Speaking ahead of the Sep. 5 meeting of the Opec-plus producer alliance, Dyukov endorsed continued cooperation between Opec members and Russia in order to stabilize volatile oil markets. The Gazprom Neft chief praised the impact that Opec-plus has had on global oil markets and said that it would be positive "if this agreement, this mechanism continues working." Oil fundamentals are well-balanced today and high prices are being driven by geopolitical factors, Dyukov said. He also shrugged off the potential return of Iranian barrels. "If the Opec-plus agreement is sustained, then it has already demonstrated that it is able to keep the market in balance and to meet the needs of consumers for affordable prices and maintain a price level necessary for oil companies to continue investments in crude production," Dyukov said.
