Russia: Budget in Doubt as Oil Falls To $69

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin warned last month that the 2009 federal budget would have a deficit if the country's main export blend dropped below $70.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/600/42/371728.htm

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Newsmax.com – Cheap Oil Could Alter International Landscape

But some analysts expect oil prices to keep declining, perhaps to as low as $50 a barrel in coming months.

Newsmax.com – Cheap Oil Could Alter International Landscape

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Oil plummets as Ike largely spares energy output - Yahoo! News

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $4.87, or 4.82 percent, to $96.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier dropping to $94.41, the lowest level since Feb. 14. A close at that level would be oil's first settlement under $100 since March 4.

Oil plummets as Ike largely spares energy output - Yahoo! News

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Russia on the verge of decline

Oil production is set to decline this year for the first time in a decade, a decline that is widely expected to accelerate rapidly in 2010. Of Russia's 14 largest oil fields, seven are more than 50% depleted. Production at its four largest gas fields is also in decline. Russia drilled about four million feet of new wells last year. In 1990, it drilled 17 million.

...For much of its history, Russia has been a weak state masquerading as a strong one -- a psychological profile in insecurity.

Global View - WSJ.com

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