OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2015. Russia's oil export duty is expected to fall 6 percent to \\$105.8 per tonne in March, following lower oil prices, calculations by the Finance Ministry and Reuters showed on Monday.

The rate is based on price monitoring of seaborne Urals crude oil prices from January 15 through February 14. The oil export duty stands at \\$112.9 per tonne in February.

The average Urals price for the period was \\$49.98 per barrel, down from \\$52.31 in the previous period, said Alexander Sakovich, an official at the Finance Ministry.

He said that the discounted rate could come in as negative, so the duty would most likely be set at zero.

Last year, President Vladimir Putin approved changes to a tax law reducing oil export duties and increasing taxes for mineral extraction to try to balance the needs of producers and the Russian budget.