Export duty on oil from Caspian may be lowered

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is considering lowering the export duty on oil produced on the Caspian shelf.

“The oil companies are asking about lowering export duty. We’ll think about it,” Putin said.

Putin was at a conference on Caspian hydrocarbons production and discussed the need to implement a comprehensive program for developing the north Caspian region for future oil production and energy supplies.

“We need to do this in order to sustain the level of hydrocarbons production in the long term.”
He added, “The resources of private business and the state must be combined effectively. The experience gained here will prove useful for development of continental shelf resources on a large scale.”

Putin said that he had ordered the economic, finance and energy ministries to examine the projects, as well as consider lowering the export duty.

“We'll think. We'll have to look at the economics of these projects. I'm not ruling out lowering export duty on this oil.”