Global leader in oil production, Russia said it will further hike gasoline export duty 44 percent from May 1 instead of an expected 34 percent to fight local fuel shortages.

In an official release, Russia’s energy ministry said the tariff, tied to international prices for gasoline, will stand at $408.3 per ton instead of the previously planned $304 per ton.

International oil and oil product prices have been boosted by unrest in the energy-rich Middle East and local companies prefer to sell gasoline on the world market after the Russian government capped retail prices.

The price regulations led to a deficit of gasoline in many Siberian regions and in the north of the country. Many Russian regions have been facing problems with petrol such as rising prices, lack of fuel and high demand.

Altay Region was the first to suffer from such problems. It was followed by Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Murmansk, Saint-Petersburg, Sakhalin, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar.

 The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office blamed oil companies for secret deals. The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service started mass inspections at oil companies. Russian companies sent just about 8 percent of total gasoline production abroad in 2010.

Commodity Online