Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 24 2019

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM
Gazprom’s Latin American footprint
The Russian gas giant is working in Argentina, Bolivia, Venezuela and several other countries
LATIN AMERICA
WHAT:
Gazprom has established several outposts in South America and is active in the upstream, midstream, infrastructure and trading spheres.
WHY:
South American projects are a growing part of the Russian company’s inter - national asset portfolio.
WHAT NEXT:
A rise in oil and gas prices could lead Gazprom to seek out more opportunities in the region.
WHEN Gazprom makes headlines, it usually does so because of its activities at home in Russia or in its main export markets in Europe. But the state-owned Russian giant has a global portfolio. Even though its own domestic reserves are the largest in the world, the company is interested in opportunities in other regions.
To this end, Gazprom has established a foot- hold in South America and is active in several countries – primarily in Argentina, Bolivia and Venezuela, but also in other states.
Argentina
Gazprom began taking a serious look at the potential for wide-ranging co-operation with Argentina in 2012, following a meeting at which Russian President Vladimir Putin and his coun- terpart Cristina Kirchner discussed the matter.
Several months a er the meeting, which took place during a G-20 summit in Mexico, Gaz- prom chief Alexei Miller met with Miguel Gal- luccio, the CEO of Argentina’s state oil company YPF, to discuss opportunities for LNG trade. The following year, Gazprom’s trading arm, Gazprom Marketing & Trading (GM&T) won a tender for the delivery of 10 cargoes of LNG to YPF and Enarsa, a private Argentine company.
Since then, the Russian company has also taken an interest in upstream projects. It nal- ised a framework agreement with YPF on the exploration of unconventional hydrocarbons in the Vaca Muerta shale formation in September 2015 and then signed a formal accord on the project in early 2018. e deal provides for the partners to work together at Estacion Fernandez Oro, a promising eld that lies within the Neu- quen Basin. As of press time, they had not yet made any discoveries, and the project was still in the early stages.
Bolivia
Gazprom took its rst step towards working in Bolivia in 2007, when it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with YPFB, the coun- try’s state oil and gas concern. at document provided for Gazprom International, an a li- ate of the Russian rm, to work with YPFB on upstream exploration and development projects
and on professional training programmes. It also stated that the two sides might eventually work together on infrastructure projects, including LNG production facilities.
e MoU laid the foundation for Gazprom to participate in the development of several Boliv- ian elds. In 2008, the Russian company farmed into an exploration contract covering the Azero and Carahuaicho blocks in the southern part of the country. It has not made any commercial discoveries there yet, but Bolivian Hydrocar- bons Minister Luis Alberto Sanchez said earlier this year that he had high expectations about the possibility of a large nd in the near future.
en in 2010, Gazprom concluded a farm-in deal that allowed it to take a 20% stake in a development contract covering the Aquio and Ipati blocks. It acquired its interest from Total, and the remaining equity in this project was split between Tecpetrol of Argentina, with 20%, and YPFB, with 10%. e partners began extract- ing gas and condensate at Incahuasi, a eld that straddles the two blocks, in 2016
Since then, Gazprom and YPFB have signed several more agreements outlining their plans for co-operation on upstream, midstream, nat- ural gas vehicles (NGVs) and training initiatives. One of these documents provides for Gazprom to play a role in the updating of a general scheme for the development of Bolivia’s gas industry during the period ending in 2040. And in mid- 2018, the parties signed a term sheet that set a
Week 24 19•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5