Is Russia Really Cutting Oil Production?

Earlier this year, Russia said it would reduce its oil production rate by half a million barrels daily in response to Western sanctions and as part of OPEC+ efforts to prop up international oil prices. Yet export data is creating confusion: based on that data, Russia is producing as much oil as before. At the same time, the number of idled wells in the country has gone up, Bloomberg reported this week. And Russia has stopped reporting official production figures. The situation has all the markings of a good mystery. A mystery is the one thing this…