MOSCOW: Russia's oil export duty may jump by up to 17 percent in April to reach $426 per tonne, on surging crude prices due to conflict in the Arab world, according to the Finance Ministry.
The crude oil duty, a major factor in the financial results of Russian oil companies, stands at $365 per tonne in March.
The final oil export duty for March is based on the seaborne Urals price from Feb. 15 to March 14 inclusive.
Finance Ministry official, Alexander Sakovich, told Reuters on Thursday the average price so far has been $107.81 per barrel, up from $95.79 in the previous timeframe.
"If the oil price stays in the $110-$113 range in the remaining days (of the monitoring period), the final price could total $108.14-$108.59 per barrel," he said by telephone.
Urals is now trading above $111 per barrel. This would be the duty's second-highest level since it reached a record $495.9 in August and September 2008, when world's oil prices surged to almost $150 per barrel.
In September 2008, the Russian government decided to cut the duty to $372 per tonne to ease the burden on oil companies.
The export duty on crude from new fields in East Siberia and the Caspian Sea, which enjoy a lower rate than Russian crude from other production areas, is likely to rise in April to $191-$192.5 per tonne, up from $150.4 in March.
The duty on light refined fuels is likely to be raised to $284-$285 per tonne compared with $244.6 per tonne in March. The duty on heavy oil products is likely to rise to around $198-$199 per tonne, up from $170.4 per tonne.
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