#NEWS : Oil production in Russia to hit record high

MOSCOW, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Russia's oil production in 2010 is set to hit a record high this year, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said Wednesday.

For the first 10 months of 2010, oil production in Russia rose 7 percent year-on-year, and the country currently produces 1.4 million tons of oil per day, which is the highest daily production in the past 20 years.

By the end of 2010, Russia's total oil output for the year is expected to reach 504.8 million tons, Shmatko said.

Shmatko forecast that for the next few years Russia would produce 500 million tons of oil annually.

He linked the rise of production to lowering oil export duties, saying that it helped oil production to grow even amidst global crisis.

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