Aiming at a clearer regulation for the provision of services to the national petroleum industry and promoting an effective participation of STP citizens and companies in the oil & gas sector, a new Legal Regime for the Provision of Services to the National Petroleum Sector was recently published, by means of Decree-Law No. 22/ 2022, of 14 September 2022. This new statute establishes, inter alia, the terms and conditions pursuant to which service providers must be registered with the National Petroleum Agency (ANP-STP), the tax regime to which service providers are subject in STP, and the obligation of the Authorized Persons (i.e., the Contractors in respect of a Petroleum Contract and Persons to whom an Authorization has been granted to carry out petroleum operations) to submit to the ANP-STP quarterly procurement plans.

This statute further provides that the contracts entered into by Authorized Persons or Associates in breach of Decree-Law 22/2022 are null and void, and the costs incurred with same are neither recoverable nor deductible.

The new Legal Regime for the Provision of Services to the National Petroleum Sector will come into force on 1 January 2023.

In addition, by means of Decree No. No. 47/2022, of 20 September, the Government of STP approved the amendments to the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) Model, notably in respect of the contractual provisions on (i) the fees payable by Contractors under the PSC; (ii) cost recovery; (iii) decommissioning; and (iv) employment and training of national citizens. Within 3 months from the publication date of this new statute, the ANP-STP shall engage with the Contractors to execute an addendum to the existing PSCs for the amendment of the clause on the fees payable to the State.

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