Kazakhstan cuts oil export duty to $140/tonne

ALMATY Dec 21 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan has reduced its oil export duty to $139.8 per tonne from $203.8 and will review it on a monthly basis instead of once a quarter, a government decree said.

The new levy will take effect in a month, according to the decree published in the official Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper on Saturday.

The decree provides for a revision of the duty if the average monthly price changes by more than 15 percent month-on-month.

Kazakhstan currently reviews the duty quarterly based on the average global price for the previous quarter. Because of this, companies now pay a fee of $203.8 per tonne based on the period of record-high prices.

Central Asia's largest oil producer introduced the levy in May. Kazakhstan plans to produce about 70 million tonnes of oil this year.

Large foreign companies working in the country under production sharing agreements are exempt from the duty. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Erica Billingham)