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Argentina's lower house approves tax breaks for exploration
Platts
Buenos Aires
Petroleumworld.com 09 15 06
Argentina's lower house of Congress late Wednesday approved a bill to
provide tax breaks and other incentives for oil and gas exploration in virgin
areas, a house spokesman said Thursday.The government-drafted project, which was first submitted to legislators
last year, now goes to the Senate for review.The bill calls for providing up to 15 years of fiscal incentives for
exploration in new areas. To enter the program, producers would have to team
up with Enarsa, the country's state energy company, on exploration projects.The government wants to spur exploration to stem the current 4% to 10%
annual decline in the country's oil and gas reserves.Producers have been refraining from exploration since the country's
2001-2002 economic crisis because erratic regulations, high export taxes and
fuel pricing controls are limiting profits and complicating business.As a result, oil production dropped to a 12-year low of 665,740 b/d last
year and gas output fell for the first time in more than a decade to 141.4
million cu m/d, according to industry data.For more news, request a free trial to Platts Oilgram News at
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Platts 14 09 06
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