Russia expects investment in its oil industry to be stable at RUB1 trillion ($32.6 billion) in 2009 as tax incentives and other measures offset lower crude prices, the country's energy minister said Wednesday.
In an emailed statement to Dow Jones Newswires sent on his behalf by a spokeswoman, minister Sergei Shmatko said "the overall anti-recessionary measures taken by the [Russian] government would help to retain the investment scale which totals to 1 trillion rubles for the single oil industry."
The statement contrasts with previous predictions made by Russian oil officials that investment in one of the world's largest oil producer would fall this year compared with 2008, following a steep drop in crude prices.