RELATED ARTICLESSeptember 1010 - Colombia's Ecopetrol thinks bigSeptember 1010 - BP to sell Colombian businessSeptember 1010 - Ecuador's uneasy relationship with foreign oil firms has again slipped towards threats and recriminations, complicating the smallest Opec nation's production outlook, writes Robert OlsonJuly 2010 - Rapid growth in oil and gas production and a competitive fiscal regime should make Peru's forthcoming licensing round a success, says Perupetro. Miles Lang reports
Latin America
Argentina China's state-owned firm CNPC has reportedly offered up to $14.5bn for a 75% stake in YPF, a local energy firm majority owned by Spain's Repsol. Separately, another Chinese state-owned company, CNOOC, is reportedly interested in buying 25% in the company (see p2). Repsol paid $15bn for YPF in 1999 during a privatisation programme. Gas output from Neuquén province will rise by 1m cm/d by the end of this month, the province says. New output will come from tight-gas sands in the Aguada Pichana block operated by France's Total. Local reports say the gas will be marketed at a price of $4-5/m Btu, well above regulated prices of around $1/m Btu. Officials from the province hope gas from tight-gas sands can be sold on unregulated markets according to a separate programme designed to encourage upstream development. Neuquén says additional reserves could yet be exploited in Loma de la Lata and Agua Pichana. Brazil Shell, Petrobras and India's ONGC have begun oil production from the Parque das Conchas project (BC-10) project, in the offshore Campos basin. The development will tap the Abalone, Ostra and Argonauta B-West fields. Its first phase includes nine producing oil wells. The heavy-oil development is the first to use subsea oil and gas separation, and subsea pumping. Petrobras is to suspend oil exports from the Albacora field from September because the crude is of uneven quality and gravity, according to local reports. Oil from Albacora, which has a sulphur content of 0.75% and gravity of 20°API, will now go instead to domestic refineries. Petrobras may increase exports of Roncador heavy crude to compensate for the loss in exported volumes from Albacora, the reports say. Local ethanol producer Cosan has signed a three-year deal with Mitsubishi to export fuel to Japan. Exports could amount to 80m litres a year and will be used to produce ethyl tertiary butyl ether. Cosan produces 2.3bn l/y of ethanol and exports 20% of its output. Petrobras has signed a three-year contract worth about $0.56bn with Transocean to operate one of the firm's semi-submersible rigs in the country's deep water. The Brazilian firm will pay about $0.51m a day to deploy the Cajun Express, which is operating on a Chevron field in the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, US oil services company Halliburton has signed a $190m deal with Petrobras to provide drilling fluid, completion fluid and drilling waste management in the country's offshore. The five-year contract will begin later this year. Colombia Canada's Pacific Rubiales Energy says the Rubiales oil pipeline is almost complete and will begin operations later this month. The company has been building the line since 2008. Initial capacity will be for 170,000 b/d of Rubiales heavy oil, upgradable to 260,000 b/d. The line connects the Rubiales field with Monterrey Station, in Casanare province. It will be operated by Oleoducto de los Llanos Orientales, a joint venture with Ecopetrol. Pacific Rubiales says the infrastructure will reduce export costs through the port of Coveñas. Crude oil output rose to 0.66m b/d in June, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (ANH) said last month. In June 2008, output was 0.585m b/d. The ANH says gas output has also risen in the last year, hitting 1.02bn cf/d in June, compared with 0.851bn cf/d in the same month of 2008. After years of decline, oil output is now approaching levels last seen in 2000, when production was 0.688m b/d. Nonetheless, rising demand will still make the country a net oil importer by 2016, the government says. Cuba Colombia's state-owned Ecopetrol is to explore for oil in an area off the northwestern coast. The country's state-owned energy firm, Cupet, estimates that its waters could hold up to 20bn barrels of oil, although other assessments put the figure much lower. Ecopetrol joins Brazil's Petrobras, Venezuela's PdV and a host of Asian national oil companies already exploring the country's exclusive economic zone, which contains 59 blocks. Ecuador The state's take-over of two oil concessions held by France's Perenco would put future foreign investments at risk, the French government told the country last month. Perenco ceased its oil operations last month after a tax-dispute with the government saw the state take 70% of output from its oilfields in the country, which produce 21,000 b/d. The World Bank's arbitration panel has also condemned the expropriations; however, the government is adamant that Perenco owes it over $300m in taxes. State-owned PetroEcuador subsidiary Petroproduccion has signed an agreement with Indonesia's national oil company, Pertamina, covering upstream projects in the country. The agreement will see the two companies explore the southeastern Amazon region. The country produces 0.51m b/d of crude, half of which comes from PetroEcuador operations. Mexico A fall in the peso and declining state revenues could affect state-owned Pemex's plan to spend around $20bn this year – $17bn of which is intended for upstream projects. The company's output of 2.65m b/d is down by almost 8% compared with last year – and 20% lower than in 2005. Production from its largest field, Cantarell, is falling by 35% a year. Oil revenue is also falling. Between January and May, the country earned just over $27bn from oil sales, a 10% drop on the same period of 2008. Pemex has asked for bids in September from companies wishing to develop the Coridon gas project, in the north of the country. The contract, a long-term services agreement, will last for 15 years. Pemex says it could award it in February 2010. Previously, the company said it would offer three new gas-bearing blocks in the Burgos basin for tender, each expected to produce 50m-100m cf/d of gas. Venezuela State-owned PdV is to delay the bidding for a contract to develop the Carabobo heavy-oil blocks, in the Orinoco Belt, until further notice, according to local reports. Chevron, Gazprom, Shell and Total are among the international energy firms interested in the contract. The winning bid was due to be announced later this month, but PdV is understood to be considering changing the development terms.
|
