Decline in Oil Prices Has No Serious Impact on Russian Economy – BP Chief

The weakening of the ruble helped Russia deal with the recent decline in global oil prices much better than other countries, BP CEO Robert Dudley said.

Russia is dealing with the price shock over the decline in global oil prices much better than other countries because of the weaker ruble, Robert Dudley, CEO of British oil-giant BP, said during the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.

According to Dudley, cost adjustment is now highly needed in the oil industry, because hopes for increasing prices cannot be used as a real strategy.
"We are getting out of the heavy shock period after the decline in oil prices," he said.

The decline resulted in that a total of $1.5 trillion moved from oil producers and suppliers to buyers. The money left the oil sector, and that is creating pressure in the industry, Dudley added.

President of Russia’s Rosneft Igor Sechin said that the money outflow from oil sector to customers did not result in economic growth.

"So, as we said earlier, it is not oil prices to blame for the stagnating economy. There might be other factors which curb economic growth, such as accumulated imbalances and debts. All of them are outside the energy sector," Sechin underscored.