Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.26
By Emin Aliyev - Trend:
The Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan made amendments on the excise duty rates of gasoline imported into the country on Feb. 7.
The decision was published on the web site of the Cabinet of Ministers on Feb. 26.
According to the decision, the rate of excise duty on motor gasoline with not more than a 95 octane rating (containing lead both below and above 0,013 grams per liter) is set at the level of $1 per ton of fuel. The rate on this type of fuel is valid from Feb. 7 to June 1 this year.
Excise duty on imports of gasoline with octane rating higher than 95, but not more than 98 (containing lead both below and above 0,013 grams per litre) is set at $ 100 per ton. Rate of excise duty on imports of motor gasoline with a 98 octane rating or higher (regardless of lead containing) will be $ 150 per ton. The rate on this type of fuel is valid from Feb.1.
These changes do not apply to imports of jet fuel.
In accordance with another decision of the Cabinet of Ministers the above-mentioned import of fuels was exempted from customs duties.
SOCAR (manufactures and sells gasoline in Azerbaijan with the specified octane ) plans to import gasoline with 95 and 92 octane ratings into the country during the period of interruption of work on the catalytic cracking refinery installation named after Heydar Aliyev in Baku.
Earlier by a decision of the Azerbaijani government, dated January 21, 2013, the imports of gasoline with 95 and 92 octane rating were exempted from customs duty and excise tax until June 2014, which was not due to the gasoline shortages in the country, but because of plans to suspend the catalytic cracking unit at the Heydar Aliyev Baku Oil Refinery.
"But this does not apply to gasoline with a 98 octane rating, which the operators of gas stations purchase at their discretion," the source in SOCAR told Trend earlier.
Installation is planned to be stopped for the reconstruction and work on increasing its capacity in April for a month, which will affect the production of gasoline in the country. This may require a replacement of the volume not produced during the month of suspension.
As previously SOCAR senior official said, modernization of the unit will make it possible to increase its processing capacity by one million tons (from two tons to three million tons), and gasoline production by 450,000 tons.
The need to increase the unit's capacity is associated with the rising demand for gasoline in the domestic market.
The oil products are produced at two Baku oil refineries. Both oil refineries belong to SOCAR, which annually processes approximately seven million tons of oil extracted onshore and offshore with its own funds.
As SOCAR head Rovnag Abdullayev said previously, the next year the company will focus on repairing and expanding the power of the catalytic cracking installation, in order to meet the country's growing needs in gasoline in the next few years. According to him, the level of gasoline consumption became equal with its production volumes in Azerbaijan for the first time.
Petroleum products in Azerbaijan are made on the basis of two Baku refineries with a total capacity of 16 million tons a year. Both are part of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan which annually processes approximately seven million tons of oil from onshore and offshore fields and is self-funded.
The price of oil products in Azerbaijan are fixed and determined by the Tariff Council. The retail price of gasoline increased in Azerbaijan in line with the council's decision, dated December 3, 2013.
The retail price for a liter of AI-95 gasoline is set at 0.8 manats, and the retail price of AI-92 and AI-80 gasoline - at 0.7 manats per liter.
Prior to this, the cost of one liter of AI-95 gasoline was 0.6 manat, AI-92 and AI-80 - 0.55 manat.
The last time fuel prices changed in Azerbaijan was in 2007.
The official exchange rate for Feb. 26 is 0.7845 AZN/USD.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by C.N