“The government has decided to lift, as of November 17, the temporary ban on the export of automotive gasoline introduced on September 21 as part of a package of measures aimed at stabilizing the price situation on the internal market”the Russian Ministry of Energy said this Friday in a press release on Telegram.
In two months, “wholesale gasoline prices on the stock market have decreased considerably”the ministry welcomed to justify its decision.
However, he warned that he “will continue to monitor production indicators and prices”saying not to exclude “the return” of the ban mechanism to export gasoline “if necessary”.
After Moscow’s announcement, oil prices increased their rise, with Brent, the European benchmark for crude, climbing 3.09% to 79.81 dollars per barrel, when its American equivalent, WTI, rose 3.02 % at 75.10 dollars per barrel, around 4:15 p.m. GMT.
Level record
The main Russian oil companies had called in recent days on the government to put an end to this mechanism put in place on September 21 faced with soaring prices at the pump.
The price of gasoline in Russia had indeed reached a record level a few days earlier, driven by a combination of the weakening ruble, rising global oil prices and repair work at oil refineries limiting supplies.
As a direct consequence of the difficulties observed at the beginning of September, farmers were unable to harvest their crops due to fuel shortages necessary for their machines, according to the local Russian press.
A few months before the presidential election, Vladimir Putin, anxious to contain the rise in prices, called on his government to act “faster”, inflation making Russians fear a loss of their purchasing power.
