Moscow (Platts)--15Mar2010/842 am EDT/1242 GMT

Russia's crude oil export duty is set to be fixed at $36.80/barrel or $268.90/mt from April 1, 6% more than March's level of $34.73/b or $253.60/mt to reflect a recent increase in the Urals price, according to finance ministry data released Monday.

The crude export duty is set according to a formula, and has been derived from the average Urals price of $75.52/b between February 15-March 14. The average price in the previous monitoring period between January 15 and February 14 was $72.31/b.

The export duty for light oil products is likely to be set at $193.5/mt for April, up from the current $183.20/mt.

The export duty for heavy oil products is likely to be at around $104.2/mt for April, compared with March's $98.70/mt.

The monthly duty revisions require government approval, which is expected at the end of the month.

ZERO RATE DUTY FOR EAST SIBERIA

The export duty for East Siberian crude oil is likely to remain at zero for April, a government source said, although the government may take a decision on changing the rate in the middle of this week.

At a meeting Friday, the government granted the parties involved in discussions over the future of the tax breaks two or three days to finalize the details, the source said providing no further details.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who backs tax breaks for East Siberia, said last week that Russia would keep the zero rate of export duty for East Siberian crude until all relevant ministries have agreed a position on the issue. That work was being finalized, he said then.

In late January it emerged that the finance ministry was seeking to raise export duty for East Siberian crude as the current economic situation makes its production profitable under normal export duty rates. Finance ministry officials said at the time the zero rate was likely to last until this spring only.

The zero rate was introduced in December to encourage companies to invest in development of the new oil-rich but remote province of East Siberia, which requires massive spending on infrastructure. It is currently being revised monthly, like the standard export duty for Urals, although energy minister Sergei Shmatko favors less frequent revisions.

"We have a strategic vision of the zero rate of the export duty," a spokeswoman with the energy ministry quoted Shmatko as saying earlier Monday.

"It should be continued at a longer basis in order to provide stimulus for oil companies in invest in the development of oil fields [in East Siberia," Shmatko said, according to the spokeswoman.

--Nadia Rodova, nadia_rodova@platts.com