MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2020) Oil production in Russia will likely remain steady once the global COVID-19 pandemic has ended, although the contribution of the sale of oil to the country's budget is set to fall, head of the Accounts Chamber Alexey Kudrin said on Monday.
"What will be the role of oil after the pandemic? Even before the crisis, the role of hydrocarbons in the world had been revised, due to discussions of climate change and the future of the planet. Now these discussions have become even more relevant. Alternative energy is becoming more affordable. Oil production in Russia will not fall but we will no longer have the same income that there was over the last 20 years," Kudrin wrote in an article in the Kommersant newspaper.
According to the Accounts Chamber head, Russia must embrace new innovative technological solutions to replace oil's importance to the economy. This includes moving from a reliance on oil to a reliance on knowledge and technology, Kudrin wrote.
This is especially vital given the relatively low impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on the digital economy, Kudrin stated, adding that embracing new innovative technology could revolutionize several economic spheres.
"Our regulation and public administration have lagged behind and have not met these challenges. We have been talking about this for a long time," the Accounts Chamber head wrote.
Global oil prices crashed in April amid a massive fall in demand as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak that left almost all international passenger planes grounded and businesses closed. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell into negative territory for the first time in history, although modest gains have been reported over recent weeks as countries begin to ease lockdown measures enforced back in March to slow the disease's spread.
