Russia's crude oil production will rise by 5.7 percent this year, Russia's number two oil official said on Tuesday, continuing a slowdown in output growth at the world's second biggest exporter. Sergei Oganesyan, head of the Federal Energy Agency, said Russia would produce at least 485 million tonnes (9.74 million barrels per day) of crude oil in 2005, up from 458.8 million tonnes (9.19 million bpd) last year.

The forecast was slightly higher than the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters last year, which showed 9.72 million bpd to be the average forecast of 18 banks, brokerages, research institutes and Russian government agencies.

But it confirmed that the post-Soviet production boom was decelerating, which could derail President Vladimir Putin's plan to double gross domestic product by early next decade. "The tendency in 2005 will be the same as in 2004 - output growth will slow down," Oganesyan told reporters.

After 11 percent growth in 2003, output grew by a further 9 percent in 2004, driving post-Soviet production to a high of 9.42 million bpd last September.

Oganesyan also predicted that exports would total 285.5 million tonnes (5.733 million bpd) in 2005. It was not immediately clear if the figure included sales to countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Copyright Reuters, 2005