Russia is taking a conservative approach to the price of oil, pegging its scenario for growth at $40 per barrel for the nation’s benchmark Urals crude oil. “Taking into account that world oil reserves remain at a high level and intensive growth of shale oil production in the United States, we are lay[ing] down $40 per barrel price of Urals oil in our conservative scenario,” Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin was quoted by Russian news agency Tass as saying. Economists at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries reported Urals crude prices in March averaged $49.94 per barrel, a decline of 7 percent from the February average. All major crude oil benchmarks lost value in March, though the downturn for Urals crude […]