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OPEC+ has decided to hike output from April

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Novak: OPEC+ may reverse the hike decision after April

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Kazakhstan says it will cut oil production in next months

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CPC exports to be reduced as well

(Recasts, combining Novak and Kazakhstan's comments,)

By Olesya Astakhova, Mariya Gordeyeva and Maha El Dahan

MOSCOW/ALMATY/DUBAI March 7 (Reuters) - Russia's Deputy

Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that the OPEC+

group agreed to start increasing oil production from April, but

could reverse the decision afterwards if there are market

imbalances.

Speaking at an online briefing almost simultaneously with

Novak, officials from Kazakhstan, which has frequently exceeded

the OPEC+ production quotas, pledged to cut output in March,

April and May.

Novak also said Russia produced less oil in February than

the quota it agreed with the OPEC+ group, which includes the

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies.

Eight OPEC+ members taking part in OPEC+'s most recent layer

of output cuts held a virtual meeting on Monday and agreed to

proceed with the April increase, the first by the group since

2022. The increase is 138,000 barrels per day, according to

Reuters calculations.

Novak told reporters that the group will go ahead with the

April increase, but after that it may consider other steps.

"If there is an imbalance in the market, we can always play

in the other direction," he said.

Global oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel after his

comments.

KAZAKHSTAN

Industry sources told Reuters that record output from

Kazakhstan helped sway this week's OPEC+ decision.

The world's largest landlocked country has been producing at

a record high, and well above its quota, as U.S. oil major

Chevron ( CVX ) expands output at the largest Kazakh oilfield,

Tengiz.

Several other members of the group, including top producer

Saudi Arabia, were angered by the rising output from Kazakhstan,

three OPEC+ sources told Reuters.

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev told an

online briefing of reporters and analysts that the country was

producing oil above quota, but the government had tasked oil

majors to cut production.

His deputy, Alibek Zhamauov, said the country will cut oil

production in March, April and May, as well as exports via the

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), its main exporting route.

Kazakhstan's OEPC+ production quota is set at 1.468 million

barrels per day (bpd).

"In March, we will strive to achieve the OPEC+ quota of

about 1.5 million bpd," he said.

Kazakhstan raised crude and gas condensate output in

February to a record high of 2.12 million bpd.

A pumping station on the Russian stretch of the CPC pipeline

was hit by a Ukrainian drone last month. There have been

conflicting reports about the scale of the damage and its impact

on exports.

Zhamauov said CPC has embarked on repair works and while

exports have been steady, they will decrease in March. He didn't

specify if the cuts will be due to the aftermath of the drone

strike or output reduction.

(Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin, editing by Tomasz Janowski and

Emelia Sithole-Matarise)