- Law On the Subsurface, 14 December 1992.
- Law On Hydrocarbon Resources, 30 December 1996.
- Decree of the President No 3189, dated 6 June 1997, On Measures for the Realisation of the Law of Turkmenistan On Hydrocarbon Resources (the ‘Decree on the Competent Body and Model Contracts’). See in particular Appendix A to this Decree: the Regulation on the Competent Body on Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the President of Turkmenistan.
- Decree of the President No 4416, On Further Measures to Improve the Principles of the Use of Hydrocarbon Resources (adopted 22 October 1999), approving (a) the Rules of Development of Hydrocarbon Fields of Turkmenistan in the ‘Golden Age’ of the Turkmen People (the Operations Rules’), and (b) the Regulations on Interaction Between the Competent Body and Other State Bodies (the ‘Agency Interaction Regulations’). These rules and regulations were developed with substantial input from the Haigler Bailly consulting firm from the United States under a grant from the US Agency for International Development. Haigler Bailly's chief representative in Ashgabat at the time, Dr Krishna Gupta, played a leading role and is most knowledgeable on this subject.
- These other agencies include: the Main State Inspectorate Turkmenstandartlary, the Ministry of Oil & Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, the Paramilitary BOP Service and the Institute BalkanNIPINeft (both divisions of the State Concern Turkmenneft), the Oil and Gas Institute of the State Concern Turkmengaz, and the Scientific Research Institute For Geological Exploration (NIGRI) of the State Concern Turkmengeologiya.
- Decree of the President, On the Improvement of the Oil and Gas Industry and the Efficient Use of Mineral Resources, 1 July 1996.
- Decree of the President No 4450, On the Investment Project for the Commercial Development of the Southern Gamshyldzha Field, 29 November 1999. But see Decree of the President No 4817, On Realisation of the Investment Project for The Exploration Drilling of Three Wells in the Yashildepe Group Areas, 31 August 2000; Decree of the President No 4818, On Realisation of the Investment Project for the Exploration and Completion of the Structures of Nebitilidge, Western Nebitilidge, Shutout and Gerchek, 31 August 2000; and Decree of the President No 4819, On Realisation of the Investment Project for the Commercial Development of Southern Gamyshyldzha in 2000, none of which most recent decrees appears expressly to carry forward this intent. Further developments should be followed closely.
- Decree of the President No 3999, On the Procedure of Issuing Licences for the Right to Conduct Petroleum Operations in the Territory of Turkmenistan, 18 December 1998.
- Decree of the President No 1743, On the Creation of the National System of Standardisation and Certification, 6 April 1994.
- See also section 1.2.4 of the Rules, regarding Management Committee approval of plans, programmes, etc, under contracts entered into prior to adoption of the new Rules.
- Section 1.5.1 of the Rules further provides:
- ‘The continued operation of any well placed in operation prior to the effective date of these Rules shall not be cause for issuance of a Notice of Violation under Section 13.1.4 of these Rules so long as no major workover is undertaken on such well and as long as the continued operation of such well conforms to a Development Plan approved by the Competent Body. The undertaking of major workover operations on such well for increasing the production from such well, or for replacing major equipment or components on such well, or the undertaking of major repairs on such well shall remove the exemption provided by this provision and such well shall thereupon become subject to these Rules as any other new well.’
- Law On Taxation of Profit, 8 October 1993.
- Joint Instruction of the State Tax Service of Turkmenistan and Ministry of Economy and Finance of Turkmenistan No 24, ‘On the Manner of Calculation of the Profit Tax and Paying It Into the State Budget of Turkmenistan, 29 July 1999.
- See Model PSA, Art 13, for the related proposed cost- recovery and production- sharing provisions in the context of PSAs.
- Law on Foreign Investments in Turkmenistan, 19 May 1992.
- The Model PSA (Art 23.3) goes on to provide, however, that this import duty exemption (as well as the companion exemption for personal goods of contractors’ employees) does not apply ‘when, in the reasonable opinion of the Authority, items of the same, or substantially the same, kind and quality are manufactured locally and are available for purchase and timely delivery at Contractor's operating base in the Republic at a price equal to the cost of the imported item…’ (See ‘Local content and labour’ below.)
- Decree of the President No 4390, On Approval of the Rules of Customs Clearance of Imports to Turkmenistan of Goods, Materials and Equipment for Petroleum Operations, Exports from Turkmenistan of the Said Goods, Materials and Equipment, As Well As Volumes of Crude Oil and Natural Gas Due to Contractors Operating in Accordance with the Law of Turkmenistan On Hydrocarbon Resources’, 28 September 1999.
- The FIL, Art 16, provision also grants certain export licensing exemptions to legal entities where a foreign investor has contributed hard currency amounting to more than 30 per cent of the charter fund. To qualify, the exporting entity is supposed to receive a certificate issued by the appropriate state agency, certifying that the exports were outputs from that entity. The exports/outputs thus exempted are not to exceed in value the amount contributed to the charter fund by the foreign investor. Note, however, that para 4 of Decree of the President No 3724, On Measures for Stimulation of Export Production of Turkmenistan, did away with general prohibitions and limitations on export, except for obligatory registration of export contracts with the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange and licensing for export of particular products included in lists approved by the President or Cabinet of Ministers depending on the type of particular product. Thus, because presently export licensing, except with respect to products included in such lists, is not applied in Turkmenistan, there is no agency empowered to issue certificates on the basis of FIL, Art 16.
- Law No 889-XIII, On the Currency Unit of Turkmenistan, 8 October 1993; Law No 891-XII, On Foreign Currency Control, 8 October 1993.
Journal of Energy & Natural Resources Law
Volume 19, 2001 - Issue 1