Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 13 2022

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

Jenkins said in a presentation to investors earlier hold licences for nine Sergipe-Alagoas blocks,
this month that the Cutthroat prospect might be and Cutthroat-1 was their first exploration well.
a very large field, with a “mean to upward gross Murphy Oil has described Cutthroat as “one of
resource potential” of 500mn-1.05bn barrels of multiple prospects that the partner group has
oil equivalent (boe). mapped” in the basin.
However, Enauta distanced itself from these This is not ExxonMobil’s first disappoint-
figures in its response to CVM on March 24, ment in Brazil’s offshore zone. For example,
saying that Murphy Oil’s estimate had been pre- Reuters quoted sources familiar with the mat-
pared on a unilateral basis, without vetting by ter as saying last month that the US giant had
the other investors in the project. decided in 2021 not to conduct appraisal drilling
Equity in SEAL-M-428 is divided between at the Opal and Tita fields in the Campos and
ExxonMobil, with 50%; Enauta, with 30%, and Santos basins after only finding non-commer-
Murphy Oil, with 20%. The three companies cial reserves there. ™

PARAGUAY
President signs fuel price subsidy bill

PARAGUAY’S government has enacted a bill month. The presidential administration had
that subsidises the cost of motor fuel sold at suggested earlier that Asuncion borrow up to
filling stations owned by Petróleos Paraguayos $100mn to establish a fuel price stabilisation
(Petropar), the state-run petroleum product fund, but legislators baulked at the idea of tak-
concern, for a period of at least two months. ing on debt for this purpose and the executive
President Mario Abdo signed the bill into branch has yet to decide what other sources of
law on March 25, following the measure’s pas- funding it will use.
sage through both houses of Paraguay’s National Meanwhile, critics have expressed scepticism
Congress. Under the bill, Petropar will be able to about the government’s prediction that the price
sell 93-octane gasoline and diesel at below-mar- caps will only cost $20mn per month, Argus
ket rates, and the government will pay the com- Media noted on March 28. They have argued
pany the difference between the lower prices and that Paraguayan drivers are likely to flock to
world market prices. Petropar’s service stations to take advantage of
Abdo’s administration introduced a proposal the subsidies, thereby driving up the demand for
for the subsidy earlier this month on the grounds subsidised fuel.
that domestic consumers needed extra support This will force Asuncion to spend more while
in the face of rising global crude oil prices. In the also imposing a burden on consumers, they said.
draft bill, it said the measure would remain in For one thing, they explained, Petropar has just
place for two months, with the option to extend 228 filling stations, compared with the 1,300
for another 30 days. stations owned by private-sector operators. For
The government has not made clear exactly another, they noted, the state-run company has
how it plans to pay for the subsidy programme, inadequate mechanisms for boosting import
which it anticipates costing at least $20mn per volumes quickly on the spot market. ™

The subsidies will cover gasoline and diesel sold at Petropar stations (Photo: Twitter/@Petropargov)

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 13 31•March•2022