ASTANA, May 21 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan has cut its oil and gas condensate forecast for 2008 by 3.4% to 67.6 million tons (496.9 million barrels), the Central Asian country's economics minister said on Wednesday.
"Last year we gave a round figure of 70 million tons, and this year, taking into account the need for routine repairs and oil output in the first four months, we clarified it at 67.6 million tons," Bakhyt Sultanov told a news conference in Astana.
Last year, the ex-Soviet republic produced 62.7 million tons (460.84 million bbl) of crude.
On May 17, Kazakhstan introduced a customs duty on oil exports of $109.9 per ton, with the global oil price standing at $714 per ton. The government said the move would ensure stable supplies to Kazakh oil refineries and yield over $1 billion in oil revenue to the national budget.
Kazakhstan also imposed a ban on the export of oil products until September 1, 2008.
