UPDATE 1-Karachaganak group to pay Kazakh oil export duty

(Adds background, details)

By Raushan Nurshayeva

ASTANA, July 14 (Reuters) - A consortium developing the huge Karachaganak gas field in Kazakhstan has become the first Western entity in the Central Asian nation to fall under a new oil export duty, a senior government official said on Monday.

The government has previously said Western energy companies operating under production sharing agreements will be exempt from the levy, although some officials have hinted that Kazakhstan wants all companies to be liable.

"Karachaganak has become a payer of the export duty," Deputy Finance Minister Daulet Yergozhin told reporters. He added that the finance ministry planned to announce a new expanded list of eligible companies soon.

Kazakhstan introduced the duty, set at $109.91 per tonne at the current global price level, in mid-May.

Yergozhin said the list, originally announced in May and consisting of 38 companies, now included 40 companies.

Karachaganak's Kazakhstan office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Karachaganak is an oil and gas field co-led by ENI (ENI.MI) and Britain's BG (BG.L), both with 32.5 percent stakes. U.S. company Chevron Corp. (CVX.N) has 20 percent and Russia's LUKOIL (LKOH.MM) a 15 percent interest.