Russia raises oil export duty

Russia has raised its oil export duty by more than $40 from $156.4 to $200.6 per tonne from 1 June 2007, according to a decree signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov last month.

The decision to raise the export duty was made by the interdepartmental commission for protective measures in foreign trade and the customs and tariff policy.

The export duty on oil products was raised from $117.7 to $147.5 per tonne of light products and from $63.4 to $79.4 per tonne of dark products.

The government reviews the oil export duty every two months, based on the monitoring of world oil prices.

Belarus has also raised its export duty on oil and oil products to their level in Russia, in accordance with the Russian-Belarusian intergovernmental agreement signed on 12 January 2007.