Tanzania passes petroleum bill

DAR ES SALAAM, July 6, 2015 – Following days of debate, Tanzania’s parliament has passed a long-delayed legal framework to develop its oil and gas industry.

The 2015 Petroleum Bill was passed on Sunday with lawmakers, mainly from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, voting overwhelmingly in its favour.

The bill seeks to create a regulatory authority and advisory bureaus for the hydrocarbons industry and related sectors.

Under the framework, oil and gas companies will pay a 12.5-percent royalty on production in the country’s onshore or shelf areas and 7.5 percent on output from offshore operations.

Critics of the bill had said more time was needed for non-governmental organisations and industry members to assess it.

Tanzania’s existing Petroleum and Production act was dated to 1980, long before the country’s string of large-scale gas discoveries began in 2011.

Voting will take place on Monday on two related pieces of legislation: the Oil and Gas Revenue Management bill and the Tanzania Extractive Industries bill.

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