Cancellation of tax break cuts Talakan profitability 67%; costs Surgutneftegas $700 mln
SURGUT. June 24 (Interfax) - The profit margin from development of the Talakan field declined 67% after being removed from the list of fields eligible for the discount oil export duty, Surgutneftegas chief Vladimir Bogdanov told journalists.
"Our losses will total about $700 million," he said.
TNK-BP CFO Jonathan Muir said previously that cancellation of the discount export duty for oil from the Verkhnechonskoye field would cost the company $450 million.
In April Rosneft chief Eduard Khudainatov said cancellation of the discount duty for the Vankor field would not have a substantial negative effect. However, Rosneft is currently lobbying the state to restore the reduced export duty if oil prices fall below $95 per barrel, in order to maintain the project's rate of return at 21%.
Russia enacted the discount export duty for oil from 22 fields in Eastern Siberia on July 1, 2010. The government removed Talakan (Surgutneftegas), Vankor (Rosneft) and Verkhnechonskoye (TNK-BP) from the list effective May 1, 2011.
RTS$#&: ROSN, SNGS, TNBP