Russian oil companies' financial results for 2016, which will emerge in the next couple of months, are likely to reveal the pressure of a stronger rouble and a growing tax burden. Oil firms took a big hit in the first quarter of last year, when crude prices reached 10-year lows of around $27/bl. The tax burden on producers increased at the same time, as the country's mineral extraction tax (MET) rose, while export duties on crude and light products remained unchanged from 2015. Levies were initially supposed to fall to offset the MET hike, but Moscow cancelled the reduction in November 2015, to help raise budget revenue.
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