Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 41 2019

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 Subsequently, the president described the new agreement as a “deal for peace.”
He also said that his administration would “expedite a new decree that assures that resources reach the people who really need them.” He did not reveal any details of his plan or of the accord with the opposition, though.
Next steps
Moreno has also not commented on the likely impact of recent events on talks with the Inter- national Monetary Fund (IMF). His govern- ment has been pursuing reform measures and reducing spending in a bid to preserve a $4.2bn loan deal with the IMF.
It was not clear as of press time whether
Petroecuador had lifted the force majeure order. On October 14, Energy Minister Carlos Perez said that the company expected to bring oil pro- duction back up to previous levels within the next 15 days. In an interview with Radio Central, he said that the NOC had lost about $100mn as a result of the protests and would need about $30mn to recondition some of its wells.
Perez also said Quito would move forward with plans to offer exploration contracts to inter- national oil companies (IOCs). “In November, we will launch the Intracampos II Round for the development of between six and eight oil wells in north-eastern Ecuador,” he stated. “We hope there is interest from national and international companies to reactivate progress.” ™
BRAZIL
Brazil unveils results of 16th offshore bidding round
BRAZIL’S latest offshore bidding round appears to have been a success. Ten companies submit- ted bids for 12 blocks in the auctions, which were held on October 10, and pledged to pay signing bonuses of BRL8.9bn ($2.2bn).
Bento Albuquerque, Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, said later on the same day that the results of the licensing round had been “well above expectations.” Even though inves- tors only bid for 12 of the 36 blocks available, they were aiming for the largest and most prom- ising sites, he explained. The minimum signing bonuses for the other 24 blocks, most of which lie in marginal areas, would have amounted to only $1.4bn, he added.
Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Nat- ural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) will transfer all of the unsold blocks to another category known as “permanent offer.” It will attempt to auction these fields off at a later date, during the next permanent offer bidding round.
All the sites that drew bids are in the Cam- pos and Santos Basins. The unassigned sites lie within the Camamu-Alamada, Jacuipe and Pernambuco-Paraiba Basins, as well as Campos and Santos.
The largest bid submitted for an individual field on October 10 came from a consortium formed by France’s Total, Malaysia’s Petronas and Qatar Petroleum. Total has a 40% stake in the consortium and will serve as operator. The remaining equity is divided between Qatar Petroleum, with 40%, and Petronas, with 20%.
The group offered a signing bonus of BRL4.029bn – equivalent to nearly $996mn, the largest sum ever pledged for a single licence area in Brazil. This block, known as CM-541, lies in the Campos Basin, and is adjacent to the highly prospective offshore zone known as the Pre-Salt
Area. It is believed to have some geological char- acteristics in common with the Pre-Salt Area.
Elsewhere in the Campos Basin, BP (UK) and Brazil’s national oil company (NOC) Petrobras agreed to pay a signing bonus of $490mn for CM-477, while Petronas offered $268mn for CM-661, Royal Dutch Shell (UK/ Netherlands) and Qatar Petroleum $171mn for CM-659 and Shell $132mn for CM-713. Chevron (US), Repsol (Spain) and Wintershall DEA (Germany) pledged $6.5 mn for CM-845, ExxonMobil $6.1mn for CM-479, Petronas $6mn for CM-715, Repsol (Spain) and Chevron (US) $3mn for CM-825 and Repsol $2.3mn for CM-795.
Only two of the bids submitted on Octo- ber 10 were for blocks in the Santos Basin. BP offered a signing bonus equivalent to $74mn for SM-1500, while Chevron offered $13mn for SM-766. ™
Minister of Mines and Energy Bento Albuquerque (Photo: ANP)
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