UPDATE 1-Kazakh energy minister urges oil sector tax cut

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ASTANA Jan 21 (Reuters) - Kazakh Energy Minister Sauat Mynbayev urged the government on Wednesday to cut the recently introduced mineral extraction tax on the oil industry due to depressed global oil prices.

He said the current tax rate had been calculated on the basis of a price of $60 per barrel.

"Now, when the price is below $40 per barrel, it has become apparent that the mineral extraction tax rate should be revised downwards," Mynbayev told a government meeting.

"The oil industry helped (the country) when it was possible, now it is time to help the oil industry."

Kazakhstan produced 71 million tonnes of oil in 2008. Oil revenues accounted for about 60 percent of the Central Asian country's export sales last year, helping to somewhat offset the effects of the global financial crisis. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, Editing by Peter Blackburn)