Following legislative authorizations by the National Assembly, the President of the Republic recently approved, by means of Presidential Legislative Decrees No. 5/18, No. 6/18 and No. 7/18, all of 18 May 2018, statutes that further implement the reform currently underway in the Angolan petroleum sector. The three statutes in question establish detailed legal frameworks for different aspects of upstream activities:

(i) Legal regime on additional exploration activities within development areas of petroleum concessions (Presidential Legislative Decree No. 5/18) – This is an exceptional regime that applies to additional exploration activities to be conducted within Development Areas in which the exploitation of additional resources is possible. Provision is made in respect of issues such as cost recovery and deduction, production sharing and applicable procedures;

(ii) Legal regime on the incentives and procedure for adaptation of the contractual and fiscal terms applicable to Qualified Marginal Zones (Presidential Legislative Decree No. 6/18) – This statute applies to petroleum concessions with marginal discoveries. In addition to defining Qualified Marginal Zones, the new statute establishes the procedure to be followed for obtaining the status of Qualified Marginal Zone, which will consequently benefit from said special legal regime. In terms of tax incentives, this statute inter alia sets forth rules on Petroleum Production Tax, Petroleum Transaction Tax, Petroleum Income Tax, Production Premium, Investment Premium, amortization of expenditures and cost oil; and

(iii) Legal and fiscal regime on natural gas (Presidential Legislative Decree No. 7/18) – This statute applies to the prospecting, exploration, appraisal, development, production and sale of natural gas. It includes rules on, inter alia, rights over natural gas, contractual regime, concession periods and terms, tax charges, deductible costs and tax benefits.

Should you wish to receive detailed comments on these statutes, or copies or English translations thereof, please contact: [email protected]