Russia Looking to Expand Tax Breaks
Russia is likely to grant a request from Surgutneftegas to widen the qualification criteria for the country’s tax breaks on shale oil.
Energy minister Alexander Novak said that “Surgutneftegas has asked us to change some criteria and parameters applicable to the breaks.
“We are likely to support this initiative,” Novak told Reuters.
Russia introduced the tax measures in September as part of efforts to incentivise shale oil production in west Siberia, where depleting mature fields threaten to sink the country’s world-leading output below 10 million barrels per day.
One of the measures involved scrapping export duty for new fields with shale oil where reserves depletion is less than 5%. Novak said that Surgut had asked to expand the base for fields that with a depletion level of up to 10%.
