Russia wants to see its domestic oil blends compete with Brent and WTI as primary global crude benchmarks, according to an official from the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange. "Our goal is to take a place among the major indicators,” SPIMEX advisor Segey Kvartalnov said, calling for a more relevant mechanism for determining a fair price for Russian crude, RT reported. Initially, the Russian futures market could use the US dollar in its operations, but it can switch to trading in Russian rubles and other currencies, according to Kvartalnov, who said around 70% of the world's oil contracts are currently based on the Brent benchmark. "The price of Russian oil should stop being determined by Brent or Dubai,” he added. In June, the head of Russia’s biggest oil firm Rosneft, Igor Sechin, called for increased efforts to standardize domestic oil blends. To be recognized as a benchmark on the global market, the Russian crude has to be traded at clear prices, the deliveries should be guaranteed and the trading volume has to be no less than 10-15 million tons per year.
