Law No. 13/2005 on Petroleum Activities.

This Law is composed of 47 articles divided in nine Chapters. It rules on petroleum activities with the aim of establishing a regulatory regime that will allow petroleum companies to develop such petroleum resources. The Law empowers the Ministry to authorize petroleum companies to explore for and exploit petroleum resources. Other petroleum regimes have been taken into consideration in order to establish a regime that is internationally competitive and helps attract investments in the development of petroleum activities. The Law regulates participation by the State in petroleum activities. Moreover, it rules on public information, penalizing provisions and inspection procedures.