MOSCOW: Russia’s budget in 2017 may receive additional revenues of some 1.5 trillion rubles ($25.9 billion at the current exchange rates) if global oil prices stand at the range of $50-$60 per barrel, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told the RT broadcaster in an interview. According to the official, such issues as the market situation, volatility and the ruble-dollar rate were among the factors affecting the oil prices. The minister added that he expected the price of Brent crude oil to average $50-60 per barrel in 2017. In November 2016, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member states reached an accord to cut their oil production for a six-month period to support the prices and the budgets of the oil-producing countries. In December, 11 non-OPEC countries joined the deal.
Russia intends to increase its oil extraction and exploration on the Arctic shelf if the oil prices on the international market grow, according to the energy minister. The Arctic shelf is a huge hydrocarbon reserve that possesses billions of tons of oil and tens of trillion cubic meters of gas, the minister added. According to Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources, the total value of energy resources concentrated in Russia’s Arctic region exceeds $30 trillion. Ministerial experts predict that in the future, Russian oil and gas production will be mainly concentrated on the Arctic sea shelves. Export duty rates for oil from Eastern Siberian, Caspian and the Arctic Prirazlomnoye oilfields was set at zero in February 2015. These zero-rate export duties will stay in place if the average oil price does not exceed $65 per tonne.
