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Kazakhstan doubles tax on oil exports

06 January 2011 12:36 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Kazakhstan doubled the tax it imposes on oil exports to $40 a metric ton ($5.46 a barrel), effective Jan. 1, as the Central Asian state seeks a larger share of revenue from sales of crude, Bloomberg reported.

Kazakhstan, which accounted for 2 percent of the worldâ€™s oil production in 2009 according to BP Plc, announced the increase today in a decree published in the official government newspaper, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.

Central Asiaâ€™s biggest oil producer began taxing crude exports in May 2008 to raise cash as global credit markets tightened. The duty, cut to zero in January 2009, was raised to $20 a ton in August for about 40 producers, including Chevron Corp.â€™s TengizChevroil LLP and the BG Group Plc and Eni SpA-led Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV venture, the countryâ€™s two biggest exporters.

The government draws up a separate list of companies that must pay the tax.