The State Duma has approved Russia's budget for the next three years.
Under the budget the government can allocate 175 Billion rubles, almost $7 Billion, next year to support Russia's financial markets. The budget contains four different scenarios for oil prices, and it will be in surplus, as long as the Urals price stays above 60 dollars a barrel. Pavel Sorokin at Unicredit Aton says that market fundamentals are likely to drive oil price higher over the medium term. “The oil price currently is about $60 BBL, its not fundamentally driven, it is driven by fear of recession in the United States and in Europe and by uncertainty regarding Chinese demand which is the primary thing supporting it now. So what we are seeing now is a lot of oil projects actually being cut, both abroad and in Russia, and delayed. Which basically means shortages of supply in the mid term, and this is bound to drive the price up, back, once the fundamentals get back into the market.” Russian oil producers cut capital expenditure while looking for taxation changes Strategic Sectors laws discourage foreign energy players Putin rebuffs rumours of rouble devaluation