Country
Assessment
Metering and recording practices have to follow methods and use instruments certified under the legal standards in force and in compliance with good technical standards. Article 34 of the Regulation on Petroleum Operations, 2009 , states that operators must propose to the MMRPG the measurement system, equipment, and procedures for measuring oil and gas production and sales. Article 39 lists the gas measurement system components; Article 40 describes the requirements for measurement facilities. Article 24 requires operators to submit a report providing information on all activities related to natural gas by December 30 of each year. Article 44 requires the quarterly submission to the MMRPG of a report on the systems for measuring, testing, and calibrating the equipment. The reports must include information related to daily production and respective shipments. For PSCs, contractors are required to record the monthly quantities of crude oil, natural gas, and water produced from each development area. These data must be sent to Sonangol within 30 days of the end of the month reported on.
Article 51 on fines in the Regulation on Petroleum Operations, 2009 , includes provisions on applicable monetary fines. If a monetary correction is needed, the penalty must be assessed under the terms of the Tax Correction Unit in force.
No evidence regarding nonmonetary penalties could be found in the sources consulted.
No evidence regarding performance requirements could be found in the sources consulted.
The Angola Liquefied Natural Gas Project (ALNG) is the first LNG project in Angola. It uses associated natural gas, helping to reduce gas flaring and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Daily capacity is 1.1 billion cubic feet (bcf). Decree 10/2007 created a special legal regime for the ALNG that includes specific maritime, tax, customs, and foreign exchange regimes. The ALNG is subject to a specific tax regime under which sponsor entities hold a tax credit of 144 months starting from the date of initial commercial production, deductible against the profit income tax. The ALNG is subject to a quarterly gas tax from the first LNG export shipment date. Decree 7/2018 provides more attractive tax rates to gas operations. The gas production tax is 5 percent (compared with 10 percent for oil). PSCs state that any surplus gas produced by oil companies that is not used for field use must be given free of charge to Sonangol (see section 5 of this chapter). The capital expenditures borne by companies for the storage and delivery of associated gas to Sonangol are cost recoverable. Sonangol will manage the gas infrastructure once commissioned and will also bear the cost of operating it. Should funding the gas infrastructure have a significant negative impact on the economic conditions agreed to in the PSCs for the contractor, Sonangol is required to modify the economic terms of the contract to restore the contractor’s economic position before the gas infrastructure project.
No evidence regarding the use of market-based principles to reduce flaring, venting, or associated emissions could be found in the sources consulted.
The volume of gas flared in Argentina doubled from 0.6 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2012 to 1.2 bcm in 2022 (Figure 1). During this period, oil production varied by about 10 percent with a significant uptick to 583,000 barrels a day in 2022. After broadly stabilizing in the first half of the 2010s, the flaring intensity increased steadily after 2017, reaching the highest level in 2021 and dropping again slightly in 2022. There were 156 individual flare sites in the most recent flare count, conducted in 2022. Figure 1. Gas flaring volume and intensity in Argentina, 2012–22 Argentina participates in the Global Methane Initiative (n.d.) and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. It submitted its first NDC in 2016 and its second in 2020. In its second NDC, Argentina committed not to exceed net emissions of 359 million tCO2e by 2030. This new goal is 26 percent lower than the target in the 2016 NDC. It represents an emissions reduction of 19 percent by 2030 from the 2007 peak emissions level. Argentina participates in the Global Methane Initiative, the Global Methane Pledge, and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition. It submitted its first NDC in 2016 and its second in 2020. In its second NDC, Argentina committed not to exceed net emissions of 359 million tCO2e by 2030. At the end of 2021, Argentina updated its second NDC target to 349 million tCO2e by 2030. This new goal is 27.7 percent lower than the target in the 2016 NDC. It represents an emissions reduction of 21 percent by 2030 from the 2007 peak emissions level. The NDC does not specifically mention gas flaring or venting. Most of Argentina’s oil and gas production is in Patagonia. The province of Chubut produces most of the oil. About half of the country’s natural gas comes from the Neuquén Basin, which is home to unconventional reserves, including the Vaca Muerta formation, which stretches across four provinces: Neuquén, La Pampa, Mendoza, and Rio Negro. Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (YPF) is the country’s largest producer of oil and gas. In the 1990s, 80 percent of YPF was privatized. YPF relinquished some upstream areas and entered into joint ventures with private operators for its most productive blocks. The state subsequently sold its remaining 20 percent stake to the Spanish oil company Repsol. However, the government retained veto power over crucial decisions. In the gas sector, another state-owned company, Gas del Estado, was also privatized and unbundled into two gas transport and eight gas distribution companies. In 2012, through Law 26.741, 2012, the government expropriated a 51 percent controlling stake in YPF. Subsequently, the government promoted public-private partnerships with the renationalized YPF, with the primary goal of addressing Argentina’s energy shortages. YPF committed itself to reducing its carbon dioxide emissions intensity by 10 percent by 2023. It will achieve this reduction through more efficient energy management, reductions in flared and vented gas, electrification and digitization of its operations, and adoption of low-carbon energy sources.
Natural gas provides more than 60 percent of power generation and more than half of the total energy consumed. Law No. 24.076, 1992, known as the Natural Gas Law, established the basis for deregulation of natural gas transport and distribution industries. The Federal Gas Regulatory Authority, created in 1992 by Decree No. 2255/92, oversees the transportation and distribution of natural gas. Natural gas prices are a mix of regulated and market prices. Before the 2015 energy reform, domestic oil and gas prices were significantly lower than those at trade parity, and public services tariffs did not cover operational costs. The domestic supply of oil and gas was insufficient to meet demand. After 2015, domestic oil and gas prices started to align with international levels. Resolution No. 46-E/2017, as amended by Resolutions No. 419/2017 and 12/2018, introduced producer subsidies to attract investments in unconventional natural gas reservoirs in the Neuquén Basin. A minimum price of US$7.50 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) was guaranteed during 2018, decreasing by US$0.50/mmBtu a year to US$6/mmBtu by 2021. On December 31, 2021, the program was to end, at which point prices were expected to match import-parity values. Law No. 26.197, 2006 , vests the federal government with the authority to grant concessions for interprovincial and export transport. Transport concessions located within the territory of only one province and not connected to export facilities were transferred to the provinces. Operators of pipelines and other transport and distribution infrastructure are required to provide open access to third parties if they have available capacity. Third parties have the right to access this transport infrastructure if they comply with the relevant procedures. The growth of natural gas production will require substantial new investment in infrastructure and export routes in the near and medium term as well as cost-effective production and transport systems. The federal government launched a public tender for constructing and operating a new gas pipeline from the Vaca Muerta area in Neuquén to Saliqueló, south of Buenos Aires. Construction is underway.
Section 9 of Resolution No. 143/1998 on inspections and sanctions, cites noncompliance with it as a sufficient reason for revoking the corresponding authorizations, except where the Energy Secretariat deems the noncompliance justified. Section 9 sets out the appeal process. Any transgression of the resolution will make the concessionaire or permit holder liable to the sanctions imposed in Law No. 17.319, 1967, under the law’s Titles VI and VII. The Energy Secretariat may request the revocation of the concession or exploration permit granted in the event of the assumptions outlined in Article 80 of the law.
Section 6 of Annex 1, on norms and procedures for venting gas, of Resolution No. 143/1998 covers flow rate measurement and registering. It requires the establishment and implementation at each venting point of a system to measure and record the flow of flared or vented gas and its composition in all cases. Article 14 of the Neuquén province’s Decree No. 29/2001 includes similar requirements.