Reply #34: Russia Quietly Starts to Shift Its Oil Trade Into Rubles [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/business/worldbusiness/27place.html?ex=1361768400&en=92ccc96dfa2f422e&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

MOSCOW — Americans surely found little to celebrate when the price of oil settled above $100 a barrel last week.

They could, though, be thankful that oil is still priced in dollars, making the milestone of triple-digit oil prices noteworthy at all.

Russia, the world’s second-largest oil-exporting nation after Saudi Arabia, has been quietly preparing to switch trading in Russian Ural Blend oil, the country’s primary export, to the ruble from the dollar. Industry analysts and officials, however, say that this change, if it comes, is still some time off.

The Russian effort began modestly this month, with trading in refined products for the domestic market.

Still, the effort to squeeze the dollar out of Russian oil sales is yet another project notable for swagger and ambition by the Kremlin, which has already wielded its energy wealth to assert influence in Eastern Europe and former Soviet states.

“They are serious,” said Yaroslav Lissovolik, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank in Moscow. “This is something they are giving priority to.”

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