GABON HYDROCARBONS CODE PROJECT DISMAYS TOTAL AND PERENCO

摘要

Oil and gas firms active in Gabon are keeping an extremely wary eye on the proposed bill for a new hydrocarbons code as it makes its way through the Senate. According to our sources, if the text were to pass as it is currently written, the Gabonese state would have the right to buy up to 10% of the share capital in any oil company established in the country. In addition, Gabon Oil Co (GOC), whose very future is at stake over talks with the IMF (AEI 840), would itself be able to directly trade a significant part of crude oil produced in Gabon. The third measure likely to rile oil majors in Gabon is that the state would have the right to purchase all production needed for domestic consumption at a rate 15% below market prices. The main companies already active in the country, namely Perenco, Total and Assala Energy (Carlyle group), are not likely to sit back quietly if the government and the minister of petroleum Pascal Houangni Ambouroue ratifies the entire text as it stands. The ministry has been working on a new version of the previous 2014 code since last year, in part to provide a more investor- friendly environment through tax incentives (AEI 828). Ministry officials have been busy going from roadshow to roadshow to promote its latest bidding round of 35 new permits without waiting for the new code to pass into law (AEI 838).