Lately, Russia has succeeded in the fierce rivalry with Saudi Arabia for the leadership in oil production.    

According to the Russian Federal Statistics Agency Rosstat, Russia outpaced Saudi Arabia in crude oil production in May. Russian producers were pumping up 10.46 mln barrels a day, 2.1% up from Saudi Arabia’s rate of 10.24 mln barrels a day. Interestingly, OPEC countries produced 32.36 mln barrels a day throughout the first three months this year.

Nowadays, oil prices have retreated to multi-month lows amid growing concern over a persistent global oil glut that is worsening market sentiment. September futures of Brent benchmark crude fell 0.5% to $44.52 a barrel. Interestingly, as early as in June Brent crude was trading above $52 a barrel. Moreover, the number of active US oil rigs has been on the rise for several weeks in a row that is bearish for oil prices. Canada has accelerated its oil output after it reopened oil facilities damaged by wildfires in June. However, Nigeria and Libya are still not able to resume their regular oil supplies due to non-stop militant attacks.