Is Russia edging towards the Opec exit?

Russian output remains much higher than the level it agreed to in December 2016 and producers have big expansion plans

All the talk ahead of Opec's June meeting in Vienna is about converting the alliance Opec signed with Russia into an as-yet-undefined long-term pact. Yet the word from corporate Russia is somewhat different: after more than a year of restraint, some of the country's biggest producers are outlining big new upstream growth and investment plans. Energy Minister Alexander Novak has, at least, added his voice to the plans for indefinite cooperation with Opec—yet, as some observers in Moscow note, the need to rejig things may also be a tacit admission that the current arrangement has run its course. While Russia has no plans to join Opec, Novak said the Kremlin is looking at a range of other forma