Regulatory capacity has increased in Tanzania’s oil and gas sector

Tanzania has come a long way in developing its petroleum sector. It is the most mature of the East African countries in terms of projects that have materialised. This has driven reform of its legal and institutional framework. However, the country has also struggled to keep abreast of commercial developments internationally. In a frontier market with relatively weak state institutions, it is a constant struggle to respond to market signals. For instance, the recent model contracts and institutional reforms seem more designed for the high oil prices before the fall in global oil prices in 2014 than the price regime we see today. This is aggravated by a marked distrust towards foreign investors in the extractive sectors. Through a focus on changes in contracts and laws throughout Tanzania’s modern history, Peter Bofin and Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen analyse these developments in the working paper Tanzania’s oil and gas contract regime, investments
and markets.