MOSCOW, September 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will raise oil export duty on its benchmark Urals blend from $238.6 per metric ton to $240.7 per metric ton from October 1, following trends on global oil markets, the government said on Monday.
The corresponding resolution was signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the government's web site said.
Duty on light petroleum products will rise to $174.5 per ton from the current $173.1, and duty on heavy petroleum products is to increase from $93.2 to $94 per ton.
Oil export duty has risen steadily this year, increasing every month except April, when if fell to $110 per ton from March's $115.3 rate.
Last year, the government abandoned its previously accepted bimonthly adjustments of export duties, 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 duty is set by a formula based on the price of the Russian benchmark Urals blend.
The global financial crisis 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. They have since climbed back to around $70 and the ruble has stabilized at around 30 to the dollar.
