Russia to raise oil export duty to $212.6 per ton from July 1

Russia will increase oil export duty from the current $152.8 to $212.6 per metric ton from July 1, following trends on global oil markets, the Russian government said on its website on Monday, according to RIA Novosti.

The decree was signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on June 26.

As of July 1, the duty on light petroleum products will rise to $155.5 from the current $115.2 per ton and for heavy petroleum products to $83.8 from the current $62.1 per ton.

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 in early 2009, before climbing back to about $70.