MOSCOW, July 17 (Reuters) - Russia's energy ministry has proposed an extension of a gasoline exports ban into September and October, RBC daily reported on Wednesday citing a deputy minister's letter.
Russia initially partially banned gasoline exports for six months from March 1 until Aug. 31 to pre-empt fuel shortages and stem a rise in prices after a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries and technical outages.
The restrictions were suspended in May until June 30 and that suspension was then extended until the end of July.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Monday the government might decide to reinstate the gasoline export ban from August should there be supply shortages in the domestic fuel market.
RBC daily said on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin wrote in a letter to Novak proposing to extend the gasoline exports ban for September and October to ensure stable supplies of the fuel and safeguard the federal budget.
The energy ministry declined to comment. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
