Select Page

Petroleum investment rank Namibia high

Empty oil exploration campaigns rank Namibia number 1 in Africa for investment by the Global Petroleum Survey’s Policy Perceptions Index in 2015, the report presents the country as an easy and business-friendly environment.
Royalties set across the board at 5% and a number of investment incentives in place, including a VAT waiver and other tax advantages for oil and gas companies, set up the country as an investment attraction to a number of international players in recent years, including Repsol, Shell and Tullow Oil.
The top ranked African jurisdiction, is in the second quintile and the only African jurisdiction with this rank. Namibia continues to out-per form its peers in Africa based on much better performance concerning, in particular, regulations and political stability/security.
As the country’s basins remain mostly unexplored, Namibia represents a great mixture of investor-friendly regulations and large untapped potential. So far, however, the exploration campaigns have revealed nothing but a string of dry wells.
This report presents the results of the Fraser Institute’s 9th annual survey of petroleum industry executives and managers regarding barriers to investment in oil and gas exploration and production facilities in various jurisdictions around the globe.
The survey was conducted from May 29, 2015 until July 31, 2015. A total of 439 individuals responded to the survey, compared with 710 in 2014 and 864 in 2013.
This massive landmass in north-west Africa is definitely not the continent’s best-known arena for oil and gas activities, and that is part of its appeal. Mauritania has quietly emerged as an exploration hotspot that ticks every key investor criterion.
For starters, tax and fiscal system make finding hydrocarbons here a high-paying bet. Kosmos Energy, which announced two major gas discoveries offshore last year, knows this well. With no royalty payments required, a reduced corporate income tax set at 25% and a myriad of investment incentives for oil and gas corporations, Mauritania makes a strong statement as an opportunity waiting to be seized.
The survey was distributed to managers and executives in the “upstream” petroleum industry. This industry includes companies exploring for oil and gas, those producing crude oil from conventional and non-conventional sources (such as bitumen from oil sands and shale formations), and those producing natural gas from both conventional and non-conventional sources, such as coalbed methane and gas embedded in shale formations.
It does not include companies that are refining, upgrading, or processing crude oil, bitumen, or raw natural gas, or involved in the transportation and marketing of petroleum products, unless such companies are also directly involved in the upstream.

About The Author

Typesetter

Today the Typesetter is a position at a newspaper that is mostly outdated since lead typesetting disappeared about fifty years ago. It is however a convenient term to indicate a person that is responsible for the technical refinement of publishing including web publishing. The Typesetter does not contribute to editorial content but makes sure that all elements are where they belong. - Ed.