Africa Oil & Gas: São Tomé and Príncipe wants more benefit from oil sector revenues

The government of São Tomé and Príncipe intends to take advantage of tax and customs revenues from the oil sector by making the different institutions involved in this matter work in the same way, said the minister of Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Environment in São Tomé.

Carlos Vila Nova was speaking at a seminar organised by the National Oil Agency to analyse issues related to customs clearance procedures and oil research procedures, fiscal obligations of oil companies and the temporary import regime for oil activities in countries of the sub-region.

The director general of the National Oil Agency, Orlando Sousa Pontes, recalled that the oil companies, which in 2017 collected seismic data in the Exclusive Economic Zone, encountered some difficulties with equipment arriving and leaving because of gaps, ambiguities and inaccuracies in the customs regime.

“This year the country will enter a new phase with the drilling of the blocks, which entails a lot of equipment coming into and leaving São Tomé and Príncipe and the government has guaranteed that it does not intend to make the mistakes of the past,” said Sousa Pontes. (macauhub)