Russia to raise oil export duty to over $152 per ton June 1

Russia will increase oil export duty from the current $137.7 to $152.8 per metric ton from June 1, following trends on global oil markets, an official government newspaper said on Thursday according to RIA Novosti.

The government's resolution on raising the oil export duty was published in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

As of June 1, the duty on light petroleum products will rise to $115.2 from the current $105.1 per metric ton and on heavy petroleum products to $62.1 from the current $56.6 per ton, the paper said.

Last year, the government abandoned its previously accepted bimonthly adjustments of export duties based on the price of the Urals blend on global oil markets, and from December 1 switched to setting duties for oil and oil products on a monthly basis to respond more swiftly to changes in world oil prices.

The global financial crisis has forced Russia, which receives a large part of its revenues from oil exports, to gradually devalue the ruble amid capital flight and a fall in global oil prices, which declined from their peak of $147 per barrel in July 2008 to around $40 per barrel, before climbing back in recent weeks to above $60.