Russia's export conundrum.(Russian oil firms)(Brief Article)

Oil exports are rising and bottlenecks easing. But is the market ready for a flood of extra crude?

Russian oil firms are continuing to rake in the profits of high world oil prices. And, as the current crop of company results shows, the windfall allowed them to boost crude output last year, adding to a trend that began modestly in 1999.

Further production increases are on the agenda, with Sibneft, for example, planning a massive 10pc boost this year (see p11). With prices still riding high thanks to Opec, Russia has every incentive to export as much oil as possible.

As a result, monthly exports from Russia are at record levels. May crude exports were …