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Tel: 0844 2480 112 London May 2021 Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research Ltd This article was first published in June 2021 For further information please contact [email protected] www.lexology.com/gtdt 1 © Law Business Research 2021 Contents Argentina 3 Japan 103 Hugo C Martelli and Bernardo Bertelloni Kentaro Kubo Martelli Abogados TMI Associates Brazil 12 Mexico 110 David Meiler, Barbara Bittencourt, Nathália de Oliveira Souza and Rogelio Lopez-Velarde and Jorge Jiménez Brenda Falcão de Araújo Dentons López Velarde SC Campos Mello Advogados Myanmar 122 Denmark 24 Khin Cho Kyi, Kana Manabe, Albert T Chandler and Johan Weihe, Per Hemmer and Rania Kassis Nirmalan Amirthanesan Bech-Bruun Myanmar Legal MHM Limited Ecuador 34 Nigeria 131 Andrés Donoso, Rafael Valdivieso, Gustavo Almeida and 'Gbite Adeniji, Jumoke Arowolo and Pacer Guobadia Bruno Pesantes ENR Advisory Robalinos Abogados Ecuador Ferec SA Norway 140 Faroe Islands 43 Yngve Bustnesli Johan Weihe, Per Hemmer and Rania Kassis Kvale Advokatfirma Bech-Bruun Oman 152 Ghana 52 Mansoor Jamal Malik and Hussein Azmy Kimathi Kuenyehia, Sr, Sefakor Kuenyehia, Kafui Quashigah and Al Busaidy Mansoor Jamal & Co Akua Pinamang Addae Kimathi & Partners Corporate Attorneys Peru 162 Augusto Astorga and Carlos Hamann Greenland 65 CMS Peru Johan Weihe, Per Hemmer and Rania Kassis Bech-Bruun Thailand 172 Nuanporn Wechsuwanarux, E T Hunt Talmage, III, David Beckstead, Iraq 76 Tachatorn Vedchapun and Noraseth Ohpanayikool Slava Kiryushin DWF LLP Chandler MHM Limited Hadeel Hasan Al Hadeel Al Hasan Law Firm United Arab Emirates 181 Italy 91 Richard Devine and Ana Severova Pietro Cavasola and Matteo Ciminelli Devine & Severova FZ LLC CMS Italy United Kingdom 189 Bob Palmer Mayer Brown International LLP 2 Oil Regulation 2021 © Law Business Research 2021 United Kingdom Bob Palmer Mayer Brown International LLP GENERAL Before the impact of the covid-19 pandemic hit, with stable market conditions expected, it was anticipated that capital investment in 2020 Key commercial aspects would be in the region of between £5 billion and £5.5 billion, in line with 1 Describe, in general terms, the key commercial aspects of the 2019 levels. However, this fell by 33 per cent to £3.7 billion in 2020 the oil sector in your country. as a result of activity deferrals and cancellations. An immediate rebound is not expected in 2021, and capital expenditure is anticipated to remain According to the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), the UK’s oil & gas between £3.2 billion and £3.7 billion. OGUK now estimates that in the industry regulator, as of the end of 2018, almost 45 billion barrels region of £3 billion of previously expected capital investment has been of oil equivalent had been recovered from the UK continental shelf deferred in 2020 and 2021. (UKCS). The OGA estimates that a further 10 to 20 billion barrels of There was a 10 per cent decline in operating costs expenditure in oil equivalent could still be recovered from the UKCS. Production 2020 to £6.6 billion (compared with £7.3 billion in 2019), as companies from the UKCS peaked in 1999, reaching 137 million tonnes. This deferred some offshore activities and reduced offshore personnel levels was followed by a general decline, with production falling by 5 per by around one-fifth to reduce covid-19 exposure risk. cent each year on average. 2018 bucked this trend, with oil and gas Production tax receipts returned to positive figures in the 2017/18 production increasing more than 4 per cent from 2017, averaging and 2018/19 tax years, with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs gener- 1.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mmboe/d), before drop- ating £1.25 billion and £1.28 billion in those years respectively, having ping to 1.61Mmboe/d in 2020. The OGA predicts production to decline paid out £294 million on a constant currency basis in 2016/17. In those further in 2021 and 2022, anticipating a fall to 1.50 Mmboe/d and two more recent tax years, production tax receipts represented 0.21 per 1.44 Mmboe/d respectively. This reflects lower levels of brownfield cent of all receipts. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that and greenfield investments, and also takes into account the impact of net production tax payments will amount to £300 million in the financial planned maintenance works due to be carried out. In 2020, UKCS oil year 2020/21, adding to contributions of more than £41 billion since production fell to 0.93Mmbbl/d, a decrease of 15.5 per cent from 2019. 2010 and almost £360 billion since 1970 (in real terms). This tax take Gas production remained at 0.58boe/d. Gas production is expected to represents more than 55 per cent of the total cash flow generated from decline to 0.41boe/d by 2025. UKCS production to date. Drilling activity across the UKCS fell by almost one-third between In 2019, the industry supported around 270,000 jobs; however, the 2015 and 2016. Activity remained low in 2017, with only 71 develop- covid-19 pandemic has caused a downturn in this figure over the last ment wells being drilled. This picked up slightly in 2018 and 2019, year. There are a number of factors, such as the Job Retention Scheme, recovering to 9 per cent below 2015 levels with 141 wells drilled (112 which are helping to sustain jobs that would have otherwise been lost, development, 16 exploration and 13 appraisal). In 2020, 71 wells began resulting in some disconnect between levels of activity and investment drilling on the UKCS. These consisted of seven exploration wells (the and employment levels. lowest since 1965), 2 appraisal wells (the lowest since 1970), and 62 OGUK predicts up to eight new fields will commence production development wells (the lowest activity levels since 1976). The 2020 in 2021. OGUK estimates these could produce around 250 million boe levels were half the levels seen in 2019 as companies deferred and over field life. However, given the recent lower rates of new investment, cancelled activities to preserve cash and reduce operational risk, due it is expected that there will be less production coming on stream in to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the oil price crash. Oil & the next year. New fields gaining regulatory approval in 2020 unlocked Gas UK (OGUK), the leading industry-representative body for the UK 40 million boe of new resources, which is less than one-third of the offshore oil & gas sector, predicts a small increase in activity in 2021, approvals obtained in 2019 and 85 per cent lower than in 2018. with a further potential to increase in 2022 to the levels seen between The OGA announced the North Sea Transition Deal on 24 March 2016 and 2018. 2021. It sets out plans incrementally to decarbonise the North Sea The UK has the sixth-largest total refining capacity in Europe and Energy oil and gas sector, complying with the government's net zero some of its six crude oil refineries are among the largest in Europe. emission agenda. The UK government and oil and gas sector plan The refining business has experienced several disruptions, including jointly to invest up to £16 billion, including the replacement of the fossil the sale of three refineries in 2011, the closure of the Coryton refinery fuel-based power supplies, on oil and gas platforms with renewable in 2012 and the closure of the Milford Haven refinery in late 2014.