Russia's parliament on Friday approved a tax cut as part of its effort to boost the country's oil production as record prices hit, which would save Russian oil majors billions of dollars.

Deputies in the lower house voted to raise the tax-free threshold on oil production from $9 (₤4.5) to $15 a barrel from January 1, Forbes magazine reports, citing Russian newsagency Interfax.

The cut was part of a bigger package which will save Russian oil producers 130 billion rubles ($5.5bn) and help boost production, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said.

'We anticipate that extraction volumes will be maintained and even increase' thanks to the measures, Shmatko told journalists. 'We expect the money to be spent on the development of new deposits,' he said.

Read the Forbes magazine story