Russia to raise oil export duty to $114-117 per ton from March 1
Russia will raise export duty on oil to $114-117 per metric ton from the current rate of $100.9 per ton following a stabilization of oil prices on world markets, a Finance Ministry official said Wednesday according to RIA Novosti.
"According to Finance Ministry monitoring, the average price of the Urals blend from January 15 to February 10 totaled $43.1 per barrel. Therefore, the export duty on oil will rise from March 1, for the first time since October, to approach the January 2009 level," said Alexander Sakovich, deputy director of the ministry's customs department.
From January 1 to February 1, the export duty on oil stood at $119.1 per metric ton. It was cut to $100.9 per ton from the start of February.
"The final price of oil according to price monitoring for the period between January 15 and February 14 will remain within the range of $43-43.5 per barrel. Everything is proceeding smoothly, without any fluctuation," Sakovich said.
Therefore, as of March 1, the duty on light petroleum products will rise to $89-91 per ton from $80.3 per ton and on heavy petroleum products to $48-49 per ton from $43.2 per ton.
Last year, the government abandoned its previously accepted bimonthly practice of monitoring the price of the Urals blend on global oil markets and from December 1 switched to setting export duties on oil and oil products on a monthly basis to respond more swiftly to changes in world oil prices.