Page 5 - LatAmOil Week 01 2021

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

In a statement dated December 29, PetroTal New export route
explained that the agreement had allowed In the meantime, though, PetroTal has chalked
Petroperu, the national oil and gas regulatory up another success.
agency, to restart its Northern Oil Pipeline In a separate statement dated January 4, the
(ONP), which had had to suspend service company announced that it had succeeded in
because of the unrest. opening up a new oil export route. Specifically, it
As a result, it said, “PetroTal has now recom- said it had sent its first cargo of 106,000 barrels of
menced oil deliveries at Saramuro (Pump Sta- crude to market via Brazil with assistance from
tion #1) for sales into the ONP.” In turn, it said, Novum Energy Trading, a firm registered in the
Petroperu has resumed shipments of crude oil British Virgin Islands.
from the Bretaña field from Pump Station #1 to The statement explained that PetroTal had
Pump Station #5. begun loading oil from the Bretaña field onto
For the moment, it added, these barrels are barges for transport via the Amazon river in
being transferred to barges at Pump Station #5 early December. As of January 4, it noted, the
for further transport. The transfer is necessary, barge convoy had reached the Brazilian port
as Petroperu was “inspecting a section of the of Manaus, where it is slated for loading onto a
pipeline beyond Pump Station #5 for possible tanker that will deliver it to the Atlantic market.
repairs resulting from heavy rains and landslides This initial shipment is expected to net
in that area,” the company said. some $2.7mn for PetroTal. It should also serve
While the inspection continues, it added, to establish the viability of the Brazil-Atlan-
PetroTal intends to keep production levels tic export corridor for Peruvian crude. The
relatively low at Bretaña. This will allow the Canadian company said in its statement that it
company “to manage sales availability through had already signed a letter of intent (LoI) with
the ONP storage, Iquitos refinery and other Novum outlining plans for long-term shipments PetroTal has
options,” the statement said. along this route, which may eventually handle as also succeeded
Once the pipeline resumes regular commer- much as 200,000 bpd of oil.
cial operations, it added, PetroTal is slated to This new route is sure to “complement the in opening up a
push output up to around 10,000 barrels per day company’s existing sales arrangements with
(bpd). The inspection of ONP is due to wrap up Petroperu’s ONP and the Iquitos refinery” and new export route
in the middle of January, it noted. will also result in higher netbacks for the com-
pany, assuming that the projected volumes yield through Brazil
Back on track the efficiencies anticipated, PetroTal said. “This
Manuel Pablo Zuniga-Pflucker, PetroTal’s will facilitate future oil production growth when
president and CEO, said he was glad to see the the company continues development of the
Bretaña oilfield resuming operations. Bretaña oil field, targeting to reach 20,000 bpd
“We are pleased that the Peruvian gov- of oil in the first quarter of 2022,” it added.
ernment and indigenous communities have Zuniga-Pflucker again expressed satisfac-
reached resolution on the social concerns and tion, saying: “We are pleased that all parties
that PetroTal will be able to again rely on con- worked seamlessly together to manage the
tinued availability of the ONP by Petroperu,” he logistics associated with this pilot shipment.
was quoted as saying in the company statement. This represents a milestone achievement for
“The ONP serves an important role for all oil PetroTal, since having the ability to manage oil
producers in the jungle area of Peru and having sales to both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts pro-
continuous, reliable operations is a necessity for vides for maximum flexibility and pricing. The
continued production, development and expan- ONP will continue to play an important role in
sion of Peru’s oil resources.” the company’s ongoing growth.” ™
But the deal isn’t notable solely for the fact
that it allowed PetroTal to begin pumping oil
at Bretaña again; it is also significant because it
seeks to address the long-standing grievances
that Peruvian indigenous groups have with the
government. Indigenous demonstrators have
charged officials in Lima with failing to ensure
the delivery of basic services and with ignor-
ing the environmental damage their home-
lands have sustained as a result of oil and gas
development.
Presumably the new accord will help resolve
some of these outstanding disputes – though
the extent to which they might do so is unclear,
since PetroTal did not reveal any details of the
document.
It did report, though, that it had joined
Petroperu in “[offering] support to all parties to
help facilitate the settlement.” Hopefully these
actions will establish a foundation for future
co-operation with host communities. (Image: PetroTal)

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