MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - The export duty on Russian crude oil will be reduced by 24% to $180.7 per metric ton from December 1, a top customs official said Wednesday.
The large reduction is due to the sharp decline in oil prices, Alexander Sakovich, the deputy head of the customs division of the Finance Ministry's taxation and duties department, said.
"Export duty on oil will be cut to $180.7 per ton from December 1," Sakovich said.
On October 19, Sakovich said the export duty on Russian oil could be cut by more than $50 per ton as of December 1.
"The time of record-high prices seems to be over. The fall in oil prices will be matched by oil export duties. Export duty could be cut by more than $50 per metric ton," the official said.
Sakovich said the duty rate is revised once every two months, taking into consideration the price of Russian Urals crude on European markets.
Urals is the leading blend of Russian oil, but is sold at a discount to Brent because of its relatively high sulfur content.
"Monitoring is carried out by the government, and calculations are made jointly by the Finance Ministry and Economic Development and Trade Ministry. The average oil price in the September 1-October 31 period of monitoring was $56.93959 per barrel," Sakovich said.
Crude export duty was raised to a record high of $237.6 per metric ton on October 1.
