Business leaders in Tanzania have welcomed the three new legislations on oil and natural gas that were passed by the Parliament in July and eventually signed by President Jakaya Kikwete last week.
The pieces of legislation include the Petroleum Act 2015, the Oil and Gas Revenues Management Act 2015 as well as the Tanzania Extractive Industries (Transparency and Accountability) Act 2015.
Speaking at the monthly dinner meeting organised by the CEO Roundtable of Tanzania (CEOrt) on Tuesday evening, the executives said enactment of the legislation was a right step to guide the nascent industry.
"It was extremely important for the government to put in place the laws since oil and gas industry is still new in Tanzania," the President and Asset General Manager of BG East Africa, Mr Derek Hudson, said.
He, however, noted that players in the industry are concerned about some sections of the legislations which they want to be addressed.
The Chairman of CEOrt, Mr Ali Mufuruki, urged stakeholders to thoroughly go through the new laws before criticising them. "It has been a common trend for people in our country to criticise something that they are not well aware of," the prominent local businessman said.
