The ANP Board of Directors approved today (25/8) the resolution that deals with the revision of ANP Ordinance No. 143/1998 (https://atosoficials.com.br/anp/portaria-tecnica-n-143-1998-estabelece-os -procedures-regarding-the-assessment-and-payment-to-landowners-of-the-participation-due-in-the-terms-of-art-52-of-law-no-9 -478-de-6-de-agosto-de-1997?origin=instituicao&q=143/1998), which regulates the procedures related to the calculation and payment to landowners (https://www.gov.br/anp /en-us/subjects/royalties-and-other-participations/land-owners).

The payment to landowners is a financial compensation owed by the concessionaires of oil and natural gas exploration and production activities to the owners of the lands where these activities are carried out. This payment is made monthly.

With the new resolution, the standard rate in force today, of 1% on gross production revenue, will be relaxed, ranging between 0.5% and 1%. This change will only take effect for new bids, not impacting fields currently in production and current land owners.

Law No. 9,478/1997 determined that payment to landowners will take place at a variable percentage between 0.5% and 1% of oil and natural gas production, at the discretion of the ANP, as stipulated in the concession contract.

ANP Ordinance No. 143/1998 regulated the procedures regarding the calculation and payment of this third-party participation, and determined, as a general rule, the application of the percentage of 1% for the payment to the landowner, allowing as an exception the percentage of 0 .5% for the cases: (1) marginal fields; and (2) field-school projects.

As of 2020, the ANP began studies on possible changes to these rules, carrying out a Regulatory Impact Analysis (AIR) with the objective of identifying the regulatory problem, the economic agents affected, the legal basis, the objectives to be achieved and the identification and assessment of regulatory alternatives.

As a result of the AIR, the relevance of revising ANP Ordinance No. 143/1998 was verified, in order to make the definition of the rate of payment due to the landowner under the terms of Law 9,478/1997 more flexible and to regulate the points currently omitted. The draft resolution also underwent a 45-day public consultation and a public hearing (https://www.gov.br/anp/pt-br/canais_atendimento/imprensa/noticias-comunicados/anp-realiza-audiencia-publica-sobre-pagamento-aos-proprietarios-de-terra).

Specific improvements were also made to the regulation to provide greater legal certainty for concessionaires and land owners.

The resolution will enter into force after its publication in the Federal Official Gazette.