Russia April oil output near record levels, gas falls

Russian oil output edged down in April but remained close to record levels and well above 10 million barrels per day for the eight consecutive month, allowing Moscow to retain the world's top position ahead of Saudi Arabia.                                            Energy ministry official data showed on Sunday,  April oil output stood at 10.11 million barrels per day, the second best result ever and down only slightly from a record-high of 10.12 million bpd in March.                                            Oil exports via pipeline monopoly Transneft also edged down to 4.27 million bpd from 4.30 million bpd in March.                          Russia's natural gas production continued its decline amid falling demand in Europe and at home because of warming temperatures and the end of the heating season.                     Russia's overall gas output fell to 1.87 billion cubic metres per day in April from 1.94 bcm per day in March and 2.07 bcm per day in February.                                            The country's gas export monopoly Gazprom also cut production to 1.48 bcm per day from 1.53 bcm per day in March and 1.63 bcm per day in February 2010, the data showed.