Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 31

LatAmOil G U Y A N A LatAmOil
Repsol appoints Peterson as main logistics contractor for drilling offshore Guyana
PETERSON, a UK-based provider of energy and logistics services, is set to play a key role in the drilling of an exploration well at the Kanuku block, located o shore Guyana.
In a statement, Peterson said it had won a contract from the block’s operator, a subsidiary of Spain’s Repsol, for support services during a drilling programme at Kanuku. Repsol Explo- racion Guyana is due to spud the Carapa-1 well at the block before the end of September, and the British company will serve as its main logis- tics contractor for work at Carapa-1.
Peterson has not disclosed the value of the contract. It has said, though, that it will pro- vide Repsol Exploracion Guyana with services related to logistics, integrated supply base man- agement and pipeyard operations. It also said it would utilise facilities in Guyana and nearby Trindad and Tobago to support the drilling project.
Maarten Spiljard, Peterson’s director of busi- ness development, has declared that the deal will bene t his company. “We are delighted to have won this new contract with Repsol, and it rea rms our commitment to the Caribbean region,” he said on August 6. “Peterson and Repsol have had a strong working relationship to date, and we look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
BRAZIL
Repsol Exploracion Guyana began working at Kanuku, located about 150km o shore Guy- ana, in 2013. It owns a stake of 37.5% in Kanuku and is serving as the operator of the block, which covers an area of 1,937 square km. e remaining equity in the project is split between Ireland’s Tullow Oil, with 37.5%, and France’s Total, with 25%.
e partners began work at Kanuku in 2013, when they signed a contract with the govern- ment of Guyana. They began internal and external impact studies of the block last year and have booked the EXL II, a Super-116E class jack-up rig owned by Valaris, to drill the rst exploration well.™
Buxo Trinidad & Tobago
Vitol invests in Brazilian retail fuel firm
ROTTERDAM-BASED Vitol, the largest inde- pendent oil trader in the world, is preparing to expand its operations in the Brazilian retail fuel business.
e company revealed last week that it had arranged to buy a 50% stake in Grupo Dislub Ecuador (GDE), the operator of Brazil’s sixth largest chain of lling stations. It did not divulge the value of the deal but said it expected to nal- ise the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2019, pending approval by the relevant regulatory agencies.
Vitol says it is investing in GDE because it sees potential for growth in the retail fuel sector of developing markets. e company is already active on this front, as it struck a similar deal with Rodoil, another Brazilian operator of ll- ing stations, last year. It paid an undisclosed sum for a 50% stake in Rodoil, which operates 300 branded filling stations and a distribu- tion network with 10 terminals serving more than 1,400 separate lling stations in Brazil’s
southern regions.
Most of GDE’s 430 stations are located in
northern Brazil, so the new acquisition will allow the commodities trader to expand its geographical reach in Brazil. (It will also boost the total number of retail units that are part of Vitol’s global chain to 6,500.)
GDE reportedly sees the deal with Vitol as an opportunity to expand its own operations. Sergio Lins, a shareholder in the former com- pany, was quoted by the Financial Times as saying that GDE was looking for new business prospects.
“We intend to reach new markets while con- solidating our presence in the territories where we already operate,” he said.
e FT described Vitol’s deal with GDE as a vote of con dence in Brazil. It said that the acquisition showed the trading rm’s willing- ness to invest at a time when the South Ameri- can country’s energy markets are in the process of deregulation..
Week 31 07•August•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7