MOSCOW, June 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia exported 80.5 million metric tons of oil in January-April, down 1.3% against the first four months of 2008, the country's statistics service said on Friday.

Oil exports accounted for 31.2% of Russia's aggregate exports, and for 48.5% of the country's energy exports in the reporting period, a slight decline from January-April 2008 (35.5% and 51.2%, respectively).

Crude output dropped by a mere 0.5% to 160.2 million tons (1.18 billion bbl) and 76.3 million metric tons of oil was refined domestically (down 1.7% year-on-year) in the first four months of the year.

In April 2009, the average export oil price was $322.4 per metric ton, up 8.1% against March 2009.

The cost of the Urals benchmark blend also rose 8.1% in April to $356.6 per metric ton on the global market.