Kazakhstan lifts ban on development of new oil fields
The moratorium on development of new oil fields will be lifted in Kazakhstan in 2013, Oil and Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Monday, Trend news agency reported.
"According to the statement of the head of state we set lifting the moratorium on the use of mineral resources as a goal for 2013 within the "Kazakhstan -2050" strategy," Mynbayev said at a meeting of the Oil and Gas Ministry board attended by Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov.
He reminded that moratorium was lifted on the mineral resources, while it has not yet been lifted on hydrocarbon resources.
As is known, moratorium on issuance of licenses for subsoil use was introduced in 2008, when the government began to develop a new tax law, stipulating abolition of such contract type as a production sharing agreement.
New Tax Code, which provides for waiver of contract stability and tightening taxation of mining sector, entered into force on January 1, 2009.
In November 2012, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the government to consider lifting the moratorium on extraction of certain minerals to make the region more attractive for investors.