- Tunisia's new constitution, passed in January 2014, includes Article 13 which requires natural resource agreements to be ratified by the National Constituent Assembly rather than the Industry Minister
- Proponents of Article 13 include President Marzouki's party, and is part of a trend towards growing scrutiny of decision making in the country's upstream sector
- This will add a new layer of approvals for investments, extension of permitting timelines and routine permission held back
- Tunisia's upstream industry is characterised by a large number of smaller companies and independents, often working in consortia - these are often reliant on farm-in and farm-out activity to manage exposure and costs
- These companies may be deterred from entering the country if permitting delays become worse and proposals for regulatory/contract reviews go ahead
- A number of approvals are currently outstanding including:
- EnQuest/PA in Didon and Zarat permits
- Extension of Sonde's Joint Oil licence
- ADX/Gulfsands asset transfer
- Cygam sale of Sud Tozour to YNG
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