The ANP held on Wednesday (3/3) a public hearing on the draft resolution that will regulate the reduction of the royalty rate as an incentive to small and medium-sized companies. The purpose of the proposal is to encourage more investment in the fields that these companies operate.

“The performance of small and medium-sized companies in Brazil is an important catalyst for regional development, especially in the Northeast region. This type of activity is capital intensive, and therefore has great potential for generating income and jobs in the country ”- said director Dirceu Amorelli (photo) during the opening of the hearing.

During the Hearing, the history, objective and impacts of the draft resolution were presented. In addition, contributions received during the public consultation period were discussed.

Representatives of the oil and gas industry, beneficiary federated entities and society participated in the event - via Teams or via YouTube. The recording of the event is available on the ANP's YouTube channel.

The expectation with the proposed resolution is that there will be an increase in the economic attractiveness of the fields and continuity of production, with extension of the useful life of the fields, maintaining their regional socioeconomic benefits, such as job creation, income and collection of state and municipal taxes. There is also the prospect of increasing the participation of small and medium-sized companies in exploration and production activities, resulting in a greater plurality of industry players.

The draft resolution is in line with the policies of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), which since 2003, has been establishing guidelines to encourage the participation of small and medium-sized companies in oil and gas exploration and production activities Natural. The text went through a public consultation period of 90 days and the contributions received can be found here.

Royalties are a financial compensation owed by companies producing oil and natural gas in Brazil. The calculation basis is the gross revenue from production, according to a rate defined in the contract. The draft proposes a reduction of up to 5% in the rate for fields operated by small companies and 7.5% for those operated by medium-sized companies.

In 2020, CNPE issued CNPE Resolution No. 04/2020, which establishes that it is in the national energy policy's interest that the ANP evaluates the adoption of measures aimed at reducing royalties for fields granted to these companies. In December last year, the ANP held a workshop on the topic to provide greater visibility and transparency to the topic and to enable the participation of society and industry in the debate.