Tax formula for high-viscous oil to be ready by Oct 1 - Energy Ministry
MOSCOW. Aug 22 (Interfax) - The formula for taxing high-viscous oil should be ready by October 1 of this year, Russia's Energy Ministry said in a statement.
According to Energy Minister Alexander Novak, the development of fields with high-viscous oil needs stimulus since Russia is in possession of large reserves and all necessary technologies for this type of production already exist.
According to experts, Russia places second in the world for high-viscous reserves (at 70 billion tonnes). "I think that it is necessary to create instruments for stimulus, which would allow for more effective production, including differentiated taxation," the minister was quoted as saying in the statement.
The Natural Resources Ministry earlier reduced starting payments for fields with high-viscous oil. A reduced export duty is also in effect for this type of crude.
Furthermore, Tatneft has requested a tax break for bitumen oil. In Tatarstan, 450 fields with bitumen oil have been uncovered, 150 of which are under Tatneft's operations. Bitumen reserves in Tatarstan come between 1.5 billion and 7 billion tonnes at an average layer depth of 80-250 meters.
