Kazakhstan to Start Taxing Crude Exports in 30 Days

(Bloomberg) — Kazakhstan, holder of 3.3 percent of the world’s oil, will begin taxing crude exports in 30 days to ensure domestic supplies and raise cash amid a tightening on global credit markets.

The government will introduce a duty of $109.91 a metric ton, or about $15 a barrel, on crude exports, according to an order published today in the government’s official newspaper. The government had previously planned to introduce the tax at the start of 2009. The initial tax rate is based on an average world oil price in the first quarter of $714 a ton.


The government will also tax exports of liquid fuel, bitumen and bituminous shale at a rate of $82.20 a ton, according to the order.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who built Kazakhstan’s investor-friendly reputation in the 1990s by attracting companies such as Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., said on April 10 that the oil export tax will generate 170 billion tenge ($1.4 billion) this year for social spending without tapping financial reserves.

Bloomberg