Russia looks to more oil export in 2015

Russia's crude oil export could be increased by 5 million tons this year, Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov said Thursday.

"If our calculations are correct, trend of this year would go upward, with a growth of up to 5 million tons," Molodtsov said.

Russian oil exports rose to 5.26 million barrels a day in January, up 24 percent from December, as the government has tailored the export tax rate and customs duties, Interfax news agency quoted Molodtsov as saying.

He added that current oil price fall and the tax maneuver have cost the Russian oil industry a 15-percent loss.

Russia's Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said Tuesday that Russia would lose about 160 billion U.S. dollars in oil exports in a year if oil prices were at 45 dollars a barrel.

Earlier on Thursday, a senior official of Russian Finance Ministry estimated that Russia could lose around 46 billion U.S. dollars in budget revenues if oil prices fall to an average of 40 U.S. dollars per barrel in 2015.

Experts from rating agency Fitch recently suggested the oil price would not go up in the near future, and in 2015-2017 would be hovering around 55 U.S. dollars per barrel.

Nevertheless, the European Commission released its winter economic forecast Thursday, predicting the decline of oil prices to an average of 53 U.S. dollars a barrel in 2015, and a rebound to 61.5 in 2016.

Russian Economic Development Ministry on Saturday predicted that Russia's gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink by 3 percent in 2015, given the oil price of 50 U.S. dollars per barrel. Endite