Kazakhstan's natural monopoly regulator AREM has approved raising the crude oil export shipment tariff for national oil pipeline operator KazTransOil by 20% from the current level to Tenge 5,817.20 ($31.57)/mt per 1,000 km from April 1.
The increase is an "extraordinary regulatory step," KazTransOil said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
The current export shipment tariff, which came in force on January 1, stands at Tenge4,850.6/mt per 1,000 km, according to KazTransOil.
AREM has kept the domestic crude shipment rate, also in force from January, unchanged at Tenge 2,931.8/mt per 1,000 km, KazTransOil said.
The increase is likely driven by the 20% devaluation of the national currency, the tenge, in mid-February, analysts at Kazakhstan's Halyk Finance bank said in a note Thursday.
"A month ago KazTransOil head [Kairgeldy Kabyldin] asked the government to raise export tariffs to offset the negative impact of tenge devaluation on earnings," they said.
In the absence of such an increase, the tenge devaluation would translate into a 25% decline in KazTransOil's 2014 earnings and a 6% increase in operating costs and higher interest costs on dollar-denominated loans for the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline project, Halyk Finance analysts said in a research note in February, citing Kabyldin.
The analysts estimate that some 20% of KazTransOil's operating costs -- mainly for maintenance and materials -- are denominated in dollars, with the rest in tenge.
Earlier in March, Kazakhstan also raised its crude oil export duty by 33% to $80/mt in a move aimed at increasing budget revenues.
The tenge saw a sharp and unexpected devaluation of some 20% in mid-February when the National Bank of Kazakhstan allowed the exchange rate to drop from Tenge156/1$ to Tenge185/1$ plus or minus Tenge3.
Kazakhstan's crude oil and condensate exports in 2013 reached some 72 million mt, up 5.1% year on year, according to the oil and gas ministry.
The country's total 2013 crude production came to around 81.8 million mt, up 3.2% year on year.
