PETROLEUM UPDATE

摘要

Mozambique is endowed with substantial untapped hydrocarbon reserves. Although petroleum exploration operations commenced in the 1940s, a long period of instability and civil war from the 1970s until the early 1990s prevented any significant development and production. In the last decade, however, the country has emerged as one of the world's fastest growing economies and there have been significant discoveries of natural gas (mainly offshore). Plans to monetise these reserves include the construction of pipelines and a liquefaction plant to enable the export of LNG from Mozambique. In 2012, the Government of Mozambique published a draft petroleum law (the Draft Petroleum Law) intended to replace the earlier law enacted in 2001. The structure, and indeed much of the content, of the Draft Petroleum Law mirrors the 2001 Law. The differences from the 2001 Law largely reflect the fact that the government now considers natural gas, rather than oil, to be the primary source of its future income in this sector and therefore wishes to ensure that the development of gas-related infrastructure, in particular LNG, is covered by the proposed legislation.