UPDATE 2-Kazakhstan imposes oil export duty from May

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By Raushan Nurshayeva

ASTANA, April 8 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan, Central Asia's top oil producer, will impose a crude export duty of $109.91 per tonne from May, a move likely to alarm potential newcomers to its energy business.

The measure, signed by Prime Minister Karim Masimov at a government meeting on Tuesday, is aimed at stabilising domestic supplies, taming inflation and raising budget revenues.

Officials have reassured Western companies operating in the Central Asian state that the duty is unlikely to affect their existing contracts, but new investors will be liable.

Industry Minister Vladimir Shkolnik, speaking after the signing, said the final list of exempted producers had yet to be drawn up.

"It will not affect contracts with a stable customs regime," he said. "The list of such contracts is being worked out."

The duty, Kazakhstan's first such measure since it gained independence in 1991, is due to come into effect 30 days after its publication in state media, most likely later this week.

"The crude export duty is aimed not only at achieving fiscal goals, but also at stabilising domestic oil products prices that have formed main inflationary pressures," Shkolnik said. Kazakhstan had previously said it wanted the duty from 2009.

The Caspian nation produced 67.5 million tonnes of crude in 2007 and exported just over 60 million tonnes. This year's production is seen at 70 million tonnes.

The duty is based on the average first-quarter global oil price of $714.9 per metric tonne, or about $94 per barrel (one tonne of Kazakh oil roughly equals 7.6 barrels).

It will apply to 27 million tonnes of oil exports, or about 40 percent of last year's production.

KazMunaiGas E&P (KMGq.L), the London-listed upstream unit of the national oil company, has long called on the government for exemption, but Deputy Energy Minister Lyazzat Kiinov Kiinov told Reuters on Monday the company is likely to be liable.

He said, however, the Western operators of the huge Tengiz and Karachaganak fields -- including U.S. oil major Chevron (CVX.N), Italy's Eni (ENI.MI) and Britain's BG (BG.L) -- would be exempted.

Since Kazakhstan plans to abandon the more flexible production sharing agreements altogether, most newcomers on the Kazakh market will have to pay the duty, officials have said.

Foreign and domestic oil players have been watching the debate surrounding the duty closely as Kazakhstan, emboldened by record-high oil prices, continues to toughen up its energy legislation.

For a factbox on Kazakh oil blocks offered to investors, please double click on [L08681916]. (Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Michael Urquhart)