MOSCOW, September 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top energy official Igor Sechin who is also chairman of state-run major Rosneft has asked Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to extend tax breaks on the Vankor oil field for the oil giant until 2014, Vedomosti business daily reported on Thursday.
Vankor, which is Rosneft's largest project, is among 22 oil fields in East Siberia that enjoyed a zero export duty until July 1 and are now charged a reduced levy to help oil companies with their development. In June, Sechin said Vankor would reach a 15 percent profitability level in 2011, following which the government would charge a normal export duty on Vankor oil.
In late August, however, Sechin wrote to Putin, saying the costs of developing the Vankor oil field were too high and urged him to keep the favorable export duty regime for the field until the end of 2013. On September 1, Putin redirected the letter to the Finance Ministry and the Economic Development Ministry with a request to look into the matter, the paper said.
Russia's Finance Ministry has long insisted that Vankor should be developed without any tax breaks, the paper said.
According to Rosneft, the company invested 229 billion rubles ($7.5 billion) into the Vankor project in 2003-2009. Planned investment in 2010 will total another $2.6 billion, the paper said.
Sechin also asked for the extension of tax breaks on a smaller Rosneft field, the Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye deposit, the paper said.
Tax breaks for the Vankor oil field could save Rosneft about $2.8 billion in 2011 alone according to analysts, the paper said.
