Gabon has intentions of scrapping corporate tax as part of a revised hydrocarbons law, and has launched a new offshore oil and gas exploration licensing round, oil minister Pascal Ambouroue said on Wednesday.
In March, Gabon, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, said it planned to revise its hydrocarbons code, under which the state holds a minimum 20 percent stake in oil projects, in a bid to attract new investment.
It will also end the 35-percent corporate tax rate, he said.
“The purpose is to attract more and more investors,” Ambouroue told a media briefing at the Africa Oil Week conference in South Africa’s Cape Town.
The new code is expected to become a law before the end of December.
Gabon is a mid-tier African oil producer and produces up to about 200,000 barrels of oil per day.
-Sowetan Live
