Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 12. Sectors › Oil and gas exploration

Oil and gas exploration

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

The country produces no hydrocarbons. Rights come through public tender and a contract approved by Congress. The only award found is block SP2 offshore San Pedro de Macorís to APA, under a production sharing style contract with a minimum State take of 40% of lifetime profit.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar, as shown on its home page on 30 October 2026, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Minimum State take, APA contract	40 % of lifetime rentResolución 159-21, contract art. 26, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Domestic hydrocarbon production	None EITI RD, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Permit for geological or geophysical studies	113300 DOPR-MEM-REG-035-2016, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Oil, hydrocarbon and similar deposits belong to the State and may be worked by private parties only under contracts granted by the Executive.Ley 4532, art. 1, 1956-08-31 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Contracts go to Congress for approval and, once approved, cannot be revoked or changed without the consent of both parties. No new contract may cover an area already under contract.Ley 4532, art. 3, 1956-08-31 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Dominicans and Dominican companies may hold rights, and foreigners may do so if they accept the exclusive jurisdiction of Dominican courts and law on the right. Foreign governments can never hold rights or be partners or shareholders of those who do.Ley 4532, art. 4, 1956-08-31 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. A holder may assign the contract, subcontract or pledge its interest unless the contract forbids it, and any assignment or pledge must be notified to the Executive before it is formalized.Ley 4532 as amended by Ley 4833, art. 5, 1958-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Contracts, assignments and liens must be entered in the Public Petroleum Registry within 60 days. The law treats breach of this as a serious fault that can lead to cancellation.Ley 4532 as amended by Ley 4833, art. 7 and 8, 1958-01-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. The Public Petroleum Registry moved to the Hydrocarbons Vice Ministry of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.Resolución 159-21 del Congreso Nacional, via EITI RD, section on the registry, 2021-07-26 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. The Ministry of Energy and Mines promotes exploration and runs tenders. Exploring or producing requires a rights contract with the ministry.Decreto 83-16, art. 4, 6 and 14, 2016-02-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. The regulation sets an exploration period of up to 6 years and an exploitation period of up to 20 years with a maximum of two 5 year extensions.Decreto 83-16, art. 10 and 11, 2016-02-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Decreto 164-21 repealed art. 9 and chapters X, XII, XIII, XV, XVI, XVII and XVIII of Decreto 83-16 to remove overlaps on environment and tax, which are reserved to law.Decreto 164-21, via EITI RD, section on regulatory changes, 2021-03-15 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: March 2021: parts of the 2016 regulation repealed, including fiscal and environmental chapters.

10. Rights are granted through contracts resulting from public tenders, with the ministry signing under a special power from the President.EITI RD, hydrocarbon rights, award section, 2022 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. The first round ended on 27 November 2019 with block SP2 awarded to Apache Dominican Republic Corporation LDC, now APA. The contract was signed 22 October 2020, approved by Resolución 159-21 and published in Gazette 11028 of 3 August 2021.Resolución 159-21, single article, 2021-07-26 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Under the APA contract the exploration phase runs up to 10 years in three periods of 4, 3 and 3 years, and up to 13 with extensions. Minimum work for the first period is 1,000 work units.Contrato APA, Resolución 159-21, art. 11, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. The production phase runs up to 25 years, extendable to a maximum of 35 years in total.Contrato APA, art. 20, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. The contractor pays a State shared income on a variable rate, within 45 days after each quarter, in dollars to the DGII.Contrato APA, art. 24, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

15. Income tax applies at the rate in force at signature, and cost deductions are capped at 95% of gross income available.Contrato APA, art. 25.2 and 25.5, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

16. The contractor must pay the State at least 40% of total petroleum rent over the life of the project, measured by a yearly formula.Contrato APA, art. 26.1 and 26.5, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

17. Machinery and equipment may enter under temporary admission free of customs taxes on entry and exit.Contrato APA, art. 27, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

18. Payments abroad are free of withholding in exploration. In development and production, services supplied from abroad bear 10%, with exceptions for seismic processing, post drill well analysis and insurance.Contrato APA, art. 28, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

19. Disputes go to ICSID arbitration with three arbitrators, seated in London, in English. Dominican law governs, and English law fills gaps.Contrato APA, art. 43 and 44, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

20. Local content means commercially reasonable efforts to hire Dominican staff and buy Dominican goods and services of equal or better value.Contrato APA, art. 58, 2020-10-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Point	Decreto 83-16	Contrato APA
Exploration	Up to 6 years	Up to 10 years, 13 with extensions
Exploitation or production	Up to 20 years plus two 5 year extensions	Up to 25 years, 35 in total
Approval	Contract with the ministry	Congress, Resolución 159-21

Terms: regulation and the APA contract

Worked example

A seismic contractor needs a permit for geological or geophysical work. The ministry fee is RD$113,300 (about US$1,860.41), on top of the environmental authorization.
An offshore bidder models a discovery. Whatever the shared income and income tax come to, a yearly test tops up the State to 40% of cumulative profit, so the effective floor binds in low cost cases.

Step by step

Watch for a new round from the ministry; none was found open.
Prequalify on legal, technical, financial and safety criteria.
Bid in the public tender.
Negotiate and sign, under presidential power to the minister.
Congress approves; publish in the Gazette.
Enter the contract in the Public Petroleum Registry within 60 days.
Get the environmental authorization before work.

Common traps

Ley 4532 art. 1 says rights can be for unlimited time, the regulation gives fixed terms, and the APA contract has others. The approved contract prevails in practice, so read it first.
Fiscal terms come from each contract. Chapters on tax in Decreto 83-16 were repealed in 2021, so do not rely on them.
Art. 4 bars foreign governments even as shareholders. A bidder with state ownership needs structural review first.
Shared income rates depend on formulas whose tables were not legible in the text layer, so the bands are not given here.
The law's reference to the old agriculture ministry is outdated. The registry is now at the Hydrocarbons Vice Ministry.

Sources

← Mining taxes, royalties and State contractsFuels market and taxes →

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