Russia to raise oil export duty by 9.2%

Moscow: Russia will raise its export duty on most crude oil shipments by 9.2 per cent from February 1 after Urals prices climbed, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and posted on the government website yesterday.

Standard tax will rise to $346.60 (Dh1,273) a tonne (about $47.29 a barrel) from $317.50 a tonne in January, according to the decree. The discounted rate on oil pumped via Russia's East Siberian-Pacific Ocean pipeline to Asia and from the Caspian Sea will be $137.60 a tonne, up from $117.50.

The export tax on light oil products will increase to $232.20 a tonne from $226.20, while the duty on heavy products will rise to $161.80 a tonne from $121.90, the government said.

Meanwhile, reportedly according to national pipeline operator OAO Transneft, foreign states tried to derail Putin's project to build an oil link to supply Asian markets with Siberian crude. Representatives of foreign governments allegeldy funded Russian environmental and public interest groups in the Far East region to sue, stop or delay construction of the pipelines, Transneft CEO Nikolai Tokarev said.