[Russian Energy Ministry Proposes New Tax Reform for Oil Sector, Advocates Expanding Excess Profit Tax to Ease Industry Burden] According to Izvestia in May, Russia’s Ministry of Energy is preparing a new “tax maneuver” aimed at easing the fiscal burden on oil and gas companies and attracting investment. At a recent industry conference, ministry officials announced plans to reform the tax regime for oil producers. Core measures include expanding the application of the excess profit tax (EPT), granting reductions in the mineral extraction tax (MET), and offering incentives for geological exploration activities. Anton Rubtsov, Head of the Oil and Gas Development Department under the ministry, stated that the reform is grounded in the "Energy Strategy 2050", which has already been adopted. Under this strategy, Russia aims to maintain annual oil production at 540 million tonnes for the next 25 years — a goal that will increasingly depend on the development of hard-to-recover reserves (HTR). Data shows that from 2010 to 2024, the share of HTR in Russia's oil output structure has surged from 20% to 63%. Over the same period, average well flow rates have dropped from 43.4 tonnes to 25.3 tonnes per day, and water cut has risen from 28.8% to 52.3%. The share of horizontal drilling has also grown sharply, from 10.1% to 64%, indicating significantly higher development complexity and costs. However, the proposed tax reform still faces resistance from the Ministry of Finance.