Has Ghawar truly peaked?

A monthly publication put out by the Bank of Montreal argues that “Hubbert’s Peak must have arrived for Ghawar, the world’s biggest oilfield, and Wall Street’s most-cited reason for assuring us month after month that oil prices would plunge…”

Russia raises oil export tax

LOS ANGELES — The Russian government plans to increase its oil export duty to a record $102.60/tonne starting Apr. 1. The duty has been $83/tonne since Feb. 1.

During December 2004 and January, the duty was $101/tonne, the previous highest level. Russia’s oil export duty is reconsidered every 2 months.