Kazakhstan may lift a ban on the export of gasoline and diesel fuel a year earlier than planned to help local refineries increase profits after spending heavily on equipment upgrades, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said on Monday. Under an agreement with Russia, Kazakhstan in 2014 banned exports of so-called white products, including gasoline and diesel fuel, until January 1, 2019. In exchange, the former Soviet republic receives duty-free fuel from Russia.

Bozumbayev told reporters the government planned to initiate talks with Russia about lifting the ban from January 2018 as that would help refineries repay "loans taken out to finance costly upgrades". Kazakhstan has three main oil refineries and after the upgrades they could boost output of gasoline and diesel fuel to a level exceeding domestic demand by 1.5-2.0 million tonnes a year for each product, Bozumbayev said.

Copyright Reuters, 2017