Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Crude output in Russia, the world’s largest oil producer, grew 1.8 percent in October from a year earlier after OAO Rosneft began production at a field in northern Siberia.

Output was unchanged from September at 42.47 million metric tons, or 10.04 million barrels a day, a post-Soviet high, the Energy Ministry’s CDU TEK unit said in an e-mailed statement today.

Crude exports rose 0.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.4 million barrels a day. Exports fell 2.1 percent from September after Russian companies began producing more oil products, according to Alexei Kokin, an oil analyst at IFC Metropol in Moscow.

“Product margins are back now that crude is trading at $70 a barrel plus,” Kokin said, noting an increase in oil products production at OAO Lukoil and TNK-BP in the third quarter versus the second.

OAO Rosneft’s production grew 5.5 percent from a year ago to 2.41 million barrels a day. The Moscow-based company produced 160,000 barrels a day at the Vankor deposit, where commercial output started in August. Rosneft, the country’s largest producer, forecasts average output at the field will reach 220,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.

Lukoil Output

Lukoil’s crude output in Russia increased 1.3 percent from the same month the previous year to 1.83 million barrels a day, also on new production. Russia’s second-largest oil producer pumped 0.5 percent less than the previous month.

TNK-BP, BP Plc’s Russian venture, boosted output 3.6 percent from October last year to 1.44 million barrels a day as it stabilized production at aging fields and added new sources.

OAO Bashneft, the Russian regional oil producer, increased output 8.3 percent against the same month the previous year to 260,000 barrels a day, after new management took control.

Russian billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s holding company AFK Sistema bought control of Bashneft and the region’s refining and marketing assets this April. New leadership has been able to get the increase with capital spending less than 2008 levels, Kokin said.

“The gains are meaningful because you basically get it for free,” Kokin said.

Bashneft output has increased 4.2 percent from January through October against the same period the last year.

Ownership Question

OAO Russneft output fell 14.4 percent against October last year to 240,000 barrels a day, as ownership of the company remains unclear. Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska submitted a request to Russia’s antitrust service for the purchase of the company in July over two years ago and has yet to receive a decision.

Output at OAO Surgutneftegaz, Russia’s fourth-largest oil producer, fell 3.1 percent in October year-on-year to 1.2 million barrels a day.

Russian natural gas output rose to 54.7 billion cubic meters in October, according to the Energy Ministry. Russia produced 55.7 billion cubic meters of gas in October of last year, Russian news agency Interfax said, citing preliminary data from the Energy Ministry.

Gas production rose 15 percent to 1.76 billion cubic meters a day from 1.53 billion cubic meters a day in September, according to the data.

The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, a year in which Russia produced 9.33 million barrels a day, a level not reached again until 2005, according to BP data.

Saudi Arabia cut production to 8.15 million barrels a day against capacity of 10.8 million barrels a day in compliance with quotas from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, according to Bloomberg data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephen Bierman in Moscow at sbierman1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 2, 2009 09:10 EST