Kazakh State Oil Company Critisized Planned Export Duties

Kazakh state energy company KazMunaiGas on Thursday criticised the government's proposal to impose a crude export duty from 2009 "to stabilise supplies on the domestic market".

The news alarmed foreign producers as well as KazMunaiGas's upstream unit, KazMunaiGas E&P.

KazMunaiGas President Uzakbai Karabalin called on the government to make an exception for his company, which reported $11 billion in revenue in 2007.

Kazakhstan's energy minister has said the duty would affect only those producers whose agreements stipulate flexible oil tax schemes, which technically makes some of KazMunaiGas production assets eligible to the measure.