Russian Oil Export Tariffs Drop by Third in February

The duty on Russian oil exports in February dropped by $21.3 from $73.3 per tonne in January, according to the country’s Ministry of Economic Development.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The current oil export tariff stands at $52 per tonne of oil. 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.

Oil prices stayed below $60 throughout 2015, with Saudi-led Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintaining high production rates.

Market prices for crude benchmarks dropped to a 12-year low in mid-January 2016, sliding below the historic level of $30 a barrel before starting to recover after January 20.