Moscow rethinks oil sector tax breaks as revenues rise

摘要

Higher oil prices supported by the Opec+ producer agreement are giving Moscow the leeway to rethink a reduction in oil industry tax breaks that it made last year, when falling oil revenues raised the prospect of a growing budget defcit. President Vladimir Putin has told the government to devise new upstream tax incentives for high-viscosity and high-water-cut crude projects. His instructions follow an online meeting he held with business leaders, at which leading private- sector oil frm Lukoil’s president Vagit Alekperov warned that upstream tax changes this year could result in a “signifcant decline in investment”.