The government will introduce a zero duty on east Siberian crude oil exports from Dec. 1, a government source said Thursday, in a long-awaited move designed to spur investment in virgin oil fields and revive stagnating output.
Thirteen oil fields will be exempt from paying export duties, offering substantial savings for Russian oil firms operating in the region, including Rosneft, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz.
“The order on the zero export duty for 13 eastern Siberian fields will take effect from Dec. 1,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
The government had already made the decision to abolish the duty in principle, but had yet to say when the ruling would come into effect. No time limit has been set for its application.
Russia, where monthly crude output topped 10 million barrels per day in each of the last two months, is currently the world’s largest oil producer
Production has recovered this year after suffering its first drop in a decade in 2008, and the latest spike in output follows the launch of state-controlled Rosneft’s Vankor field in the Arctic — one of the deposits set to benefit from the zero duty.
Vankor is currently producing almost 180,000 barrels per day, Rosneft’s vice chairman for finance and investments, Peter O’Brien, said. Production at the field is set to peak at more than 500,000 barrels per day in 2014.