MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) - Trading in the Russian Export Blend Crude Oil (REBCO) futures will move from the New York Mercantile Exchange to a new commodity market in St. Petersburg, a deputy economics minister said Tuesday.

"Trading in the REBCO futures will move to St. Petersburg as soon as we register the new commodity exchange," Kirill Androsov said, adding that the new trading floor was expected to be launched before the end of the year.

The new blend, the third crude brand currently trading on the NYMEX, after WTI and Brent, is expected to replace Urals as Russia's price index used for calculating supply prices, export duties and mineral extraction tax.

REBCO is expected to fetch a higher price than Urals, generally priced at a $5-6/bbl discount to Brent, as its quality is much nearer to Western standards.

Androsov also said an oil exchange in Russia could be launched on August 1.

President Vladimir Putin said in his state of the nation address last year that Russia, as a leading oil exporting nation, should set up domestic markets to trade crude oil and derivatives in the national currency, the ruble.