As an emerging petroleum producer, Kenya has the opportunity to reap the benefits of its natural resource wealth to further economic and human development. Many of the key factors that will determine the amount of potential government revenue from Kenya’s petroleum wealth fall outside of the government’s control. The most important of these are the volume of commercially recoverable oil in the country and the price for that oil when it reaches international markets. The main factor within the governments’ control is the set of fiscal (tax) terms offered to international oil companies to explore for new sources of oil and natural gas. There are a number of potential mechanisms through which companies seek to minimize their revenue payments to governments. One specific area of concern is the use of subsidiaries registered in tax havens.
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