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World oil prices

Russian cabinet proposes bill to set Urals oil price for tax purposes

Russia now uses oil price quotations by Argus for taxation purposes, but is considering a transition to independent domestic oil-price assessment companies

MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. The Russian cabinet has submitted a bill to the State Duma that limits the discounts for the Urals oil blend on the international market that the government will recognize when taxing oil producers, according to a Duma data base.

Starting from April, if Urals oil is sold at a discount of more $34 a barrel to the Brent blend, then the government will still apply the oil extraction tax based on the Urals price with a $34 discount, according to the bill. The limit would decline to $31 in May, $28 in June and $25 in July.

The bill comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the reworking of some legislation used to tax oil companies to be completed by March.

Russia now uses oil price quotations by Argus for taxation purposes, but is considering a transition to independent domestic oil-price assessment companies.

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