Petroleum Africa
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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Companies exploring for natural gas in Angola are set to get an exemption on taxes. Angola’s parliament voted to allow the government to implement a law that exempts gas firms in Angola from any tax burdens. The move is meant to stimulate investment in the country.
According to a report from Jornal de Angola as part of these measures, Sonagas, a subsidiary of Sonangol, will grant 10-year gas exploration rights to Eni Angola Exploration BV, Gas Natural West Africa SL, Galp Exploration Petrolifera SA, and Exem Energy BV.
While the tax exemption is great news for exploration firms the Parliament also approved new measures aimed at increasing the number of Angolan workers in the oil sector – an extension of the government’s Angolanization policy.
The new law forces oil companies to contribute to a special fund that will be used for training and developing local talent. It was not reported how much the amount oil firms would have to contribute to the fund.
Angola’s opposition UNITA party has accused oil companies in Angola of discriminating against local workers by saying that the higher paid jobs are normally given to expatriates. To be fair to the oil firms, the two-decade long civil war left Angola without skilled workers, although the government is doing its best increase the number of skilled workers available to the workforce.
Oil minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos, “We continue to work to achieve higher levels of Angolan workers (in the oil sector).”
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