Russia doesn’t need oil prices to be too high and sees the $60-65 a barrel price—the price at which Brent Crude currently trades—as “quite satisfactory,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with media on Thursday. “The Russian processing industry itself is not interested in very high oil prices. Well, the average price around 60-65 dollars per barrel is quite satisfactory, we don’t need to drive up [price] to the top, we already have a decent margin, in terms of budget,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying at the meeting with heads of news agencies today. Russia’s budget is based on a price of oil at $40 a barrel, the president said, adding that at that price Moscow can replenish its gold and forex reserves. Russia will consider all factors currently shaping the oil market, including the production declines in Iran and Venezuela and the risk […]