12 Nov 2010 14:56

Discount export duty on oil from Vankor to be maintained due to lower production

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - The discounted export duty on oil from the Vankor field being developed by Rosneft will be extended to May 1, 2011, Deputy Finance Ministry and State Secretary Sergei Shatalov said.

"We agreed that for four months - January, February, March and April - they will be footloose and fancy free: they will still have the discount," Shatalov said.

Extending the export duty discount has entailed "certain adjustments to Vankor leading to a reduction in the IRR [internal rate of return]. We agreed that production in 2010 was in fact lower than they had targeted," he said.

The Finance Ministry also factored in the possible effect on IRR of an increase in some taxes over the course of the four months, he said.

Rosneft planned to produce 12.5 million tonnes of oil at Vankor in 2010.

RTS$#&: ROSN