The net profit of the Russian energy giant "Rosneft" has fallen by more than 68% in the first half of 2025, reaching 245 billion rubles (about 3 billion dollars), the company's CEO Igor Sechin said, quoted by Reuters.
According to him, the main reason for the collapse is lower oil prices, caused by increased production from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC member states. "The first half of the year was characterized by a decline in oil prices, mainly due to overproduction. The main reason is the active increase in production by OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait," Sechin stressed.
His statement is one of the first public signals of concern in Moscow about the OPEC+ strategy, which this year changed course and began to increase production in order to regain market share. According to Reuters sources, Russia had already expressed reservations at the group's recent meetings, but ultimately supported the decision to increase production by 547,000 barrels per day from September.
Sechin, a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, has long been skeptical of cooperation with OPEC. According to him, production restrictions have helped the United States increase its output and become the world's leading producer.
From "Rosneft" predict that the surplus on the global oil market will reach 2.6 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2025, and in 2026 it will decrease to 2.2 million.
Sechin also used the occasion to launch a new attack on the policy of the Russian Central Bank, accusing the institution of maintaining a too high exchange rate of the ruble with its aggressive monetary policy, which further hinders oil exports.