Shanghai: The Chinese Ministry of Finance has announced that the country plans to impose duties on oil exports by foreign partners in offshore joint ventures for all contracts signed after August 1, reports Xinhua News. Contracts signed prior to that date will be exempt from export duties until August 1, 2012, according to a circular jointly released by the MOF and the General Administration of Customs on Tuesday.
The tax is that latest in a series of moves by the Chinese government to reduce exports of crude oil, and follows the introduction of a blanket five percent export duty last November applicable to both domestic and foreign companies. China's crude oil exports have seen a 36.6% reduction to 1.6m tons in the first five months of this year. However, the country saw an 11.5% increase in crude oil imports to 65.8m tons during the same period. China's total consumption of oil is expected to reach 350 million tons this year. [12/07/07]
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