CAPE TOWN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Gabon plans to scrap a 35percent corporate tax on energy companies as part of a revisedhydrocarbons law and has launched a new offshore oil and gasexploration licensing round for 34 blocks, Oil Minister PascalAmbouroue said on Wednesday.
In March, Gabon, a member of the Organization of thePetroleum Exporting Countries, said it planned to revise itshydrocarbons code, under which the state holds a minimum 20percent stake in oil projects, in a bid to attract newinvestment.
"The purpose is to attract more and more investors,"Ambouroue told a media briefing at the Africa Oil Weekconference in Cape Town in South Africa.
Companies exploring offshore Gabon include Petronas, NobleEnergy, ENI, Total and Shell.
Addressing a seminar on the new fiscal terms replacing the2014 petroleum code, a senior government official said besidesscrapping the corporate tax, the new code set minimum royaltyrates of 7 percent for oil and 4 percent for gas in conventionaloffshore zones, decreasing further to 5 percent for oil and 2percent for gas in deep and ultra-deep waters.
Income tax would be included in a "state profit share" andthe formula for the profit split meant the state's first tranchecould not be lower than 50 percent for oil and 50 percent forgas in conventional offshore, and 45 percent for bothhydrocarbons in deeper blocks.
"The new hydrocarbon code is adopted for oil pricefluctuations, gives flexibility to different plays and fieldsizes ... and the objective is to attract international oilcompanies," said Bernardin Assoumou, the director general ofhydrocarbons.
State participation is 15 percent once a discovery has beenmade, he added.
Ambouroue said the new code would likely become law beforethe end of December.
Gabon, a tropical nation famed for its rain forests andwildlife, is a mid-tier African oil producer, churning out about200,000 barrels of oil per day.
"Marginal fields development by small independents sustainproduction now and production will decline below 150,000 barrelsa day if nothing is done," said Assoumou.(Reporting by Wendell Roelf and Ed Stoddard; editing by LouiseHeavens and David Evans)
