Russia may ban gasoline exports for a month to stabilise prices: Report

Moscow: Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service may initiate a one-month ban on gasoline exports by large producers in order to stabilise wholesale prices ahead of the crop-sowing season, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.

But it quoted the service's deputy head, Vitaly Korolyov, as saying an export ban was only one of several possible solutions.

At the moment, major oil companies are allowed to export gasoline, but traders and re-sellers are banned from doing so, under a measure originally implemented last March.

Korolyov said wholesale gasoline prices had been recovering lately, which he described as a correction after a long decline. But he said growth in retail prices did not exceed the general level of inflation.

TASS quoted him as saying an alternative strategy to stabilise the wholesale market might be to create a forward market in order to partially reduce seasonal demand.

Russia's energy ministry issued a statement saying it continuously monitors the domestic fuel market and, if necessary, could decide ban exports to ensure an ample domestic supply.