Below is a foreword of
the latest version of the petroleum policy. After knowing what weknow now about the leaked Statoil/ExxonMobil PSA. It raises questions on who
was the ” Norwegian moderator”, what exactly was his involvement in
the policy drafting. Smells like a conflict of interest. Anyway, in my opinion
they should have formed a completely independent committee without
any members with potential vested interests. I mean Norwegian government
has a 67% stake in Statoil. What do you expect?
—
FOREWORD
Petroleum (oil and natural
gas) are finite resources belonging to the people of Tanzania and should be
managed and utilized for the long-term benefit of the nation as a whole.
To achieve that national
objective, Tanzania has formulated Petroleum Policy to address both general
principles and important aspects of the different phases of the petroleum value
chain including: Pre-License phase; Licensing strategy and licensing process;
Development and production; Production termination and decommission; Health,
Safety, Security and Environment Management; Management of Petroleum Revenue to
avoid the resource curse and ensure that petroleum production generate
substantial revenues for the nation; and Management of expectations.
The Policy preparation
process started with the formation of Petroleum Policy Committee (PPC),
comprising members from Ministry of Energy and Minerals (MEM), President’s
Office – Planning Commission, Ministry of Land, Housing, Water and
Energy – Zanzibar, Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation-TPDC, Tanzanian
Revenue Authority (TRA) and National Environment Management Council (NEMC). The
composition of the PPC aimed at ensuring that the Policy covers all critical
issues pertinent to entire upstream petroleum sub-sector and the midstream and
downstream for crude oil and petroleum products. The Petroleum Policy Committee worked closely with a moderator/advisor
from Norway right from the initial stages of problem identification to the
drafting of the Policy Document itself.
During the drafting process,
the Petroleum Policy Committee reviewed various policy documents related to
petroleum including the petroleum policies of Norway and emerging petroleum
producing countries (Uganda, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, etc.). The PPC
also visited Norway and had constructive discussions with Norwegian Government
institutions responsible for governance of the petroleum upstream sub-sector.
The draft Petroleum Policy
was discussed by all stakeholders including Government institutions, oil
companies, NGOs and public in general. The inputs received from
stakeholders were used to improve the Policy Document.
Let me take this opportunity
to extend my sincere appreciation to all stakeholders who participated in the
preparation of this Policy. Let me also thank the Royal Government of
Norway for partly sponsoring the policy making process through the Institutional
Co-operation Programme between Tanzania and Norway in the Petroleum Upstream
Sub sector.
The successful implementation
of this Policy calls for participation of all stakeholders including, the
Government and its public institutions, the private sector, local communities
and the public as a whole.
The implementation of this
Policy will be aligned with the Tanzania Five Year Development Plan
(2011/12-15/16), National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty 2010-15
and other sectoral and cross-sectoral policies aiming at eradicating poverty in
Tanzania.
It is my expectation that
this Petroleum Policy will contribute significantly towards the acceleration of
growth and socio-economic transformation of our country in accordance with our
National Development Vision 2025 – Tanzania to become a middle income country
by 2025.
Please click the link below
to download the Draft Petroleum Policy.
Prof. Sospeter M. Muhongo
(MP.)
MINISTER FOR ENERGY
AND
