Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 01 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

(Image: ONP)

Signs of improvement

for PetroTal in Peru

The company’s outlook for the Bretaña oilfield is brighter, thanks to Lima’s new accord

with indigenous communities and the opening of a new export route through Brazil

LAST year was a difficult one for PetroTal, the deteriorated quickly. The protests spread into
independent Canadian operator that is devel- the field camp used by workers at Bretaña, and
WHAT: oping Block 95 in Peru’s Loreto region. The the clashes led to injuries on both sides; they also
PetroTal is on track to onshore block – which includes the Bretaña resulted in the death of three protesters.
boost exports and may field, the company’s flagship asset – spent a sig- These incidents also had negative operational
see relations with host nificant portion of 2020 offline, owing to various effects. They caused Bretaña to remain out of
communities improve. disruptions. production for another 85 days beyond the shut-
More specifically, it halted production in down in spring, and as such they derailed efforts
WHY: early May in order to comply with the lock- to bring yields back up to pre-pandemic levels.
These developments are down that Peru’s government imposed to rein However, there are signs that the outlook for the
welcome, as they follow in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It Bretaña project is improving.
multiple production remained shuttered until mid-July, when test
shutdowns in 2020.
production started. Deal with host communities
Then in early August, a group of protest- Late last month, for example, PetroTal reported
WHAT NEXT: ers seized control of Pump Station #5 along that the Peruvian government had reached
The company is now
in a position to export the Northern Oil Pipeline (ONP). PetroTal agreement with the indigenous communities
crude either to Pacific or responded by asking Peru’s National Police to living near Bretaña on economic and social wel-
Atlantic markets. provide extra security at the field, but conditions fare issues.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 07•January•2021