Russia oil prices fall below $100 per barrel

The price of Russian Urals oil was $98 per barrel on August 18.

Urals oil prices fell 11.3% in the past 12 months and 8.2% since the beginning of the year, Vedomosti writes.

The newspaper points several reasons: Libya's 25% increase in oil production in comparison to the past week, the easing of fears over disruption in oil supplies from Iraq and low demand on oil in Europe and Asia.

Russia needs a price of $100-105 per barrel to have a balanced budget.

It will be sensitive for the budget if the prices drop to $90/barrel for several months. A price of $80 for a period of some weeks will be even more painful. A significant decrease in prices will provoke a faster capital outflow.