Oil derivative taxes to remain frozen — Zawati

AMMAN — Taxes on oil derivatives will remain frozen, according to comments made by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati on Wednesday.

During a meeting with journalists on Wednesday, Zawati said that the tax is calculated based on the average price of Brent oil in the past 24 months, which averaged out to $66 per barrel.

During the meeting, attended by Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat, Zawati said that keeping the fuel tax fixed means it will not increase now, nor in the future, even if international prices climb.

Every month, international prices of gasoline were reviewed to administer changes to local prices, the minister said.

However, with a fixed rate consumers will be protected from any tax increase when there is a hike in global fuel prices, and the government’s revenue from taxes on fuel derivatives will remain fixed, Zawati said.

Revenue currently amounts to around JD2 billion annually, and is tied to the state budget as funds are completely poured into the Treasury.

In regards to the Risha gas field, the minister said that investment would continue through the National Petroleum Company (NPC), and that the government would not bring foreign investors into the field.

The Risha gas field’s Well 48 recently showed it had a daily production capacity of 7 million cubic feet (mcf) of natural gas, pushing the field’s production to 16mcf per day, or 5 per cent of the Kingdom’s daily gas needs, according to Zawati.

The minister added that the digging of Well 49 had begun, noting that Well 50 would be dug before the end of 2019.