Russia raises 2011 oil price forecast

The Russian Economic Development Ministry has revised its forecast of an average Urals oil blend price in 2011 to 108 U.S. dollars per barrel, up from a previous forecast of 105 dollars, a senior official said on Saturday. Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach told journalists that the revision was based on the strong export of Urals oil in the first seven months this year, as the oil's average export price hit 109.17 dollars per barrel. Klepach also envisioned the oil price trend in the second half year, saying that the oil prices will go down in the next months. "We expect one barrel of the Urals blend to cost about 104 dollars by the end of this year," Klepach said. However, the official added that he didn't think the Urals oil price will be below 100 dollars per barrel in 2011, despite the risks of possible global economic slowdown and the turbulence in the oil market. Following the upswing of the international oil price, Russia has twice raised its average Urlas oil export price since year end of 2010.