Amendments to the mineral wealth law are expected to be passed by the House of Representatives during its current session, Alshorouk reported, citing a source in the Mineral Resources Authority.

The new amendments aim to separate exploration and exploitation phases to attract more investments. Besides, approving the law’s amended provisions will be accompanied by studying the ability to offer exploration and production (E&P) bids in 2019.

The source pointed out that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources plans to send the draft law to the House in the second half of June 2019.

It is worth mentioning that the specialized committees of the House of Representatives have approved in May the initial amendments to the new mineral wealth law No. 198, which was issued in 2014.

According to the constitution, the House of Representatives ordinary annual session usually runs from the first Thursday of October to early July, as it should continue for at least nine months.