OREANDA-NEWS. The price of Russian Urals export oil in Europe has exceeded $ 55 per barrel since mid-January. This happened for the first time since February 2020, in the background of the news about the reduction in the supply of Russian and Saudi oil. This is reported by TASS with reference to S&P Global Platts.

According to Ian Stevenson, managing editor of oil market at S&P Global Platts, both factors affect the requests of European refineries and create some pressure on the market from the supply side. He also noted, that in the face of a shortage of sulfur oil in Europe, Urals «will continue to rule the situation».

In early January, Saudi Arabia decided to further reduce oil production under the OPEC+ agreement by another 1 million b/d during February-March. Production will also be reduced by other members of the alliance. At the same time, Russia and Kazakhstan were given the opportunity to increase production during these two months.

Grigory Bazhenov, Chairman of the Board of the Independent Fuel Union, told the NSN during a press conference, that the tax policy on the fuel market in Russia needs to be reviewed.