Russia says it slashed oil production by 700,000 barrels a day in March, far more than originally planned

• Russia cut oil production by 700,000 barrels of oil a day in March, per Bloomberg.
• That is a bigger reduction than the 500,000 barrels a day that the country pledged to cut originally.

Russia reduced its production of crude oil by 700,000 barrels a day last month, a larger cut than previously pledged, Bloomberg reported.

However, Bloomberg said the data sows doubt over how much oil Russia actually produced, as it doesn't align with the country's seaborne exports and domestic refinery supplies.

In February, Russia announced plans to cut 500,000 barrels a day of its crude oil production throughout March, in retaliation to Western sanctions and energy price caps over its invasion of Ukraine.

After already extending the reduction to June, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced Sunday that the output cuts would be continued to the end of the year.

On the back of his comments — as well as weekend news that OPEC+ would also be cutting its oil output by 1.1 million barrels a day — oil markets rallied, indicating the potential for crude prices to return to $100 a barrel this year.

The collective reduction in the commodity's supply may also cause future volatility and force Western nations to reassess the $60 price cap on Russian oil. OPEC nations pursued the cutbacks following a momentary drop in oil prices during March's banking turmoil and fears of a recession that could hurt energy demand.

Bloomberg's data shows that Russia pumped around 1.285 million tons of crude oil a day, or over 9.4 million barrels. At the same time, exports of the commodity grew considerably, up 4.13 million barrels a day in the last week of March.