Economy Ministry cuts oil and gas condensate royalties by 2.8% in February
The correcting coefficient for calculating oil and gas condensate royalties in February was 0.4261, which was 2.8% up compared to January's indicator, the Economy Ministry of Ukraine, which calculates the coefficient, said on Thursday.
According to the official Web site of the ministry, the calculation takes into account the average price of one barrel of Urals oil on the International Petroleum Exchange, which in February fell to $42.61 per barrel compared to $43.85 in January, $40.34 in December, $52.09 in November, $71.04 in October, $97.74 in September, $111.61 in August, and $130.42 in July.
In addition, the ministry confirmed the correcting coefficient for calculating gas condensate royalties in February at 2.0056, as the price of imported natural gas this month remained at the January level of $360 per thousand cubic meters.
It was earlier reported that the Verkhovna Rada approved a law in June 2008, which foresees monthly adjustments to oil and gas condensate royalties based on average Urals blend quotations posted on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and a base oil price of $100 per barrel.
The royalties for both oil and gas condensate are set at UAH 1,090-1,529.9 (UAH 4.9265/$1 on October 9, 2008) per tonne of oil or gas condensate produced at fields less than five kilometers deep and UAH 404-566.1 per tonne of oil or gas condensate produced at fields over five kilometers deep.
The adjusting coefficient for June 2008, the first one set according to such a model, was 1.2831.
In late December 2008, the parliament pegged natural gas royalties to the price of imported gas.