Not long ago, the government had based its revenue and spending plans on an average oil price of $75. At that level, the budget deficit was supposed to be near zero. Things have changed dramatically since then, and now an oil price of about $110 is needed to balance the budget. Not long...

... SAMOTLOR, TYUMEN REGION — The engineer leaned back knee-deep in snow, straining against the taut elastic and released the unmanned drone into the western Siberian sky. Although more familiar to the inhabitants of Pakistan's tribal belt than Russian oil workers, TNK-BP has introduced military-designed remote sensing equipment as part of a high-technology program to slow the declining output of its aging fields. Production at Samotlor, Russia's largest oil field for more than 40 years, collapsed following...

Oil output from Russia hit a record high last month thanks to higher pumping rates at Rosneft and Gazprom. Oil output from Russia hit a record high last month thanks to higher pumping rates at Rosneft and Gazprom. Oil production growth in Russia, which...

The side frames of freight cars on a train carrying oil through the Amur region in the Russian Far East broke Tuesday morning, causing 17 oil tanks to fly off the cars. Side frames of freight cars on a train carrying oil through the Amur region in the Russian Far East broke Tuesday morning, causing 17...

Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko announced that the government has concluded agreements with oil and electricity producers to institute a price freeze on gas and electricity at December levels, despite a rise in oil tariffs. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko announced that the government has concluded agreements with oil and electricity producers...

Norway's Statoil wants to sell its stake in the West Qurna-2 oilfield to LUKoil and the Iraqi oil ministry has no objection "in principle." BAGHDAD — Norway's Statoil wants to sell its stake in the West Qurna-2 oilfield to LUKoil and the Iraqi oil ministry has no objection "in principle," an Iraqi oil official...

... of its older deposits. The fields, which hold about 2.7 billion barrels of resources, will likely add about 15 million tons, or 300,000 barrels a day, of output in the early part of the next decade, Tom Quigley, vice president in charge of the Yamal Oil project, said Wednesday. The oil producer is investing in remote fields to counter declines at its biggest fields in western Siberia. It set a target to boost output by 1 percent to 2 percent a year, also through expansion outside Russia. The company...

Smaller Russian oil companies such as Gazprom Neft and TNK-BP Holding are better buys than their bigger competitors, as they provide higher dividends and have better production prospects, according to Troika Dialog. Smaller Russian oil companies such...

World oil prices rose Monday on news of parliament's approval of a deal that will allow Greece to escape default on its $360 billion debt. World oil prices rose Monday on news of parliament's approval of a deal that will allow Greece to escape default on its...

PERM — LUKoil-Perm discovered a new oil deposit in the Perm region with about 20 million tons of assumed recoverable reserves, the company said in a statement cited by Interfax on Thursday. LUKoil-Perm came across the deposit while drilling its first prospecting well at the Zyryanskaya...

... last year while boosting reserves through exploration as western Siberian fields declined. Crude output dropped to 90.7 million tons, or 1.82 million barrels a day, the company said Friday in a statement. That led to a 3.9 percent decrease in combined oil and gas output to 112.7 million tons, while gas production rose 3.2 percent to 22 billion cubic meters, LUKoil said. LUKoil, which has had annual production declines for the last two years, aims to maintain level oil output in Russia this year. The...

... The standard duty may climb to $409.10 to $412 a ton, or $55.81 to $56.21 a barrel, according to calculations based on Finance Ministry data. That compares with $393.70 a ton in February. The discounted rate on some eastern Siberian and Caspian Sea oil may range between $202.80 and $205 a ton, compared with $191.20 this month. Russia bases the duties on the average Urals crude price from the 15th day of one month to the 14th of the next. The benchmark export blend may average $111.74 to $112.42...

... were offered unlimited amounts of alcohol during the flight. Dodds was hospitalized after the accident Saturday, but his condition quickly improved and he was set to be released on Monday, Life News reported. Dodds is the head of upstream operations at oil company TNK-BP. 179742

LUKoil expects to invest about $1.3 billion from 2012 to 2022 in its Arctic venture with Bashneft. LUKoil, which in December bought a 25 percent stake in the project to develop the Trebs and Titov oil fields in northern Russia from Bashneft, expects the deposits to produce 228 million barrels of crude over the next decade, deputy chief executive Leonid Fedun said Monday. The infrastructure developed at Trebs and Titov will help LUKoil develop its...

Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, and a group of Russian companies started drilling the first oil well on the Junin 6 block in the Orinoco crude belt. CARACAS, Venezuela — Petroleos de Venezuela, the state oil company, and a group of Russian...

Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, said the majority of more than 70 legal cases in regional and federal courts were won against Russian oil companies after the fuel supply crisis that paralyzed parts of the country in the spring of last year. Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, said the majority of more than 70 legal cases in regional and federal...

A company half-owned by BP and several other major oil companies will sacrifice more profits to support farmers this year thanks to a Cabinet decree published Friday. A company half-owned by BP and several other major oil companies will sacrifice more profits to support farmers this year thanks...

Winning Russia's March presidential election could be the easy part for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has called for a "decisive tax maneuver" to put the country's increasingly oil-dependent public finances on a more sustainable footing. Winning Russia's March presidential election could be the easy part for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has called for a "decisive tax maneuver" to put the country's increasingly...

Kazakhstan is prosecuting four senior police officers for using excessive force against rioters in an oil town where 17 people were killed in some of the country's worst violence in decades. ALMATY — Kazakhstan is prosecuting four senior police officers for using excessive force against rioters in an oil town where 17 people were...

If "the strength of Russia rests in Siberia," as one popular refrigerator magnet contends with words emblazoned across the sky above a powerful oil derrick, then Siberia's capital is surely Tyumen. Tyumen Population: 581,758 Main industries: Oil and gas administration Mayor : Alexander Moor Founded in 1586 Interesting fact No. 1: Tyumen is home to the easternmost McDonald’s in Russia...