Author: Dr MATTHEW BURNELL We were told that the carbon tax would come into effect from 1 June 2019. However, as the date drew nearer it seemed unlikely as the Carbon Tax Bill had not been signed by the President, the regulations needed to implement the Act were not finalised, the conflicts between the Bill … Read more
Author: Joanne Elson The 21st Africa Energy Forum (AEF) took place on the 11th to 14th June 2019 in Lisbon, Portugal. The annual AEF is the largest Africa energy gathering of the year and easily draws over a 1000 delegates from all over the globe, including many government officials, public private sector representatives, developers, dealmakers, … Read more
Authors: Peter Leon, Paul Morton and Patrick Leyden With the momentum of Total’s discovery earlier in the year and the promise of an emerging player in the oil and gas sector, 2019 may be South Africa’s best opportunity to set the legal framework for a successful and productive domestic oil and gas industry. On 7 … Read more
Author: Stéphane Brabant The hereunder presentation is adapted from a speech given during a seminar on ‘Mining and Oil and Gas Law: Transactions and Dispute Resolution’, jointly organised by the International Association of Lawyers and the Senegalese Bar Association in February 2017. A few years ago, it was still unrealistic to raise the topic of … Read more
Authors: Rebecca Major, Sharif Abousaada and Matthias Steiner The Angolan government has taken a further step in restructuring the hydrocarbons sector in Angola with the creation of the National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis) (“ANPG”), which was approved by Presidential Decree (no.49/19) on 6 February 2019. With … Read more
Author: Patrick Leyden In a move that is likely to be welcomed by the mining industry, President Ramaphosa has appointed Gwede Mantashe as the Minister of Minerals and Energy (which now combines the Ministries of Mineral Resources and Energy). During his short erstwhile tenure as Minister of Mineral Resources, Mantashe made significant progress in addressing … Read more
Authors: Rebecca Major, Jeremy Griffin and Mika Morissette Since the collapse of Somalia’s central state in 1991 and the ensuing decades of civil war, the central government’s ownership rights over Somalia’s oil and gas have been called into question, particularly in Somalia’s semi-autonomous regions. As set out below, the central government (the Federal Government of … Read more
Author: Dr Matthew Burnell We have recently come across decisions made by Regional Managers within South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources (“DMR”) in terms of sections 24P (Financial provision for remediation of environmental damage) and 28 (Duty of Care) of the National Environmental Management Act (“NEMA”). The Regional Manager does not have the requisite authority … Read more
