Russia may switch to taxing oilproducers based on Brent crude prices rather than thecurrently used Urals benchmark, after Western sanctions drovedown the price of the latter, the Kommersant daily said onFriday, citing sources.

After the G7 grouping introduced a price ceiling on Russianoil, the gap between Urals, the traditional Russian crudebenchmark, and Brent has widened to up to $40 per barrel, thepaper said.

To avoid excessive damage to budget revenue from loweringoil taxes, President Vladimir Putin last month ordered thegovernment to draft proposals on adjusting the tax framework,and switching to a Brent-based model featuring discounts andfreight costs calculated monthly is the key idea so far, thedaily cited anonymous sources as saying.

The move is certain to increase the tax burden on the sectorand may prompt companies to start cutting output, it added.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)