Russia to Cut Feb Oil Export Duty 1 Pct to $393.7/T

Russia's crude oil export duty will be decreased from Feb. 1 by almost 1 percent to $393.7 per tonne from $397.5 in January due to lower crude prices, finance ministry data and Reuters calculations showed on Jan 16, 2012.

This is in line with the range calculated last week.

The final oil export duty for February is based on the seaborne Urals URL-E crude average price from Dec. 15 to Jan. 13 inclusive.

Finance Ministry official Alexander Sakovich told Reuters the average oil price for this period stood at $108.23 per barrel, down from $109.09 in the previous time span. Urals closed at $109.13 per barrel.

The export rate is officially announced by the government at the end of each month.

The export duty on crude from some new fields in East Siberia -- apart from the Vankor, Talakan and Verkhnechonskoye fields -- and the Caspian Sea, which enjoy a lower rate than Russian crude from other production areas, will be cut to $191.2 per tonne from $194.1 in January on Jan 13, 2012.

Exports of gasoline and naphtha, which are subject to a protective export duty to ease the domestic supply shortage, will carry a levy of $354.3 a tonne from Feb. 1, down from $357.7 in January.

The duty on other refined products, such as diesel and fuel oil, is to decrease next month to $259.8 per tonne from $262.3 this month.