Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 38 2022

LatAmOil ARGENTINA LatAmOil

The concession is now due to expire on April immediately clear, but the Tierra del Fuego pro-
30, 2041, and TotalEnergies will be entitled to vincial government described them as a big step
the benefits and special tax regime outlined in toward a final deal on the Fenix project.
Argentina’s Law 19640, due to its status as a new TotalEnergies has set up the CMA-1 consor-
gas project in Tierra del Fuego. tium to execute the Fenix project. Equity in the
Meanwhile, the French major and its part- group is split between Total Austral, a subsidiary
ners also signed agreements with Argentina’s of the French giant, with 37.5%; Wintershall Dea
government on the project in early August. (Germany), with 37.5%; and Argentina’s Pan
The contents of those documents was not American Energy (PAE), with 25%. ™

ECUADOR
Petroecuador announces agreement with

PetroChina on pricing for crude oil cargoes

ECUADOR’S national oil company (NOC) during the administration of Rafael Correa, who
Petroecuador announced on September 14 that served as president between 2007 and 2017.
it had struck a deal with PetroChina on the con- The terms of its deals with these buyers have
ditions of sale for dozens of cargoes of crude. previously been kept secret, but Ecuador’s Pres-
In a statement, Petroecuador said it had ident Guillermo Lasso said earlier this year that
wrapped up the agreement by signing three he intended to make all confidential informa-
complementary contracts with PetroChina, tion about oil-backed loan deals with China
which is the main subsidiary of state-owned public.
China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). Ecuador has signed at least 15 oil-for-loans
The new documents update contracts that are deals with the Chinese government since 2008.
already in force to reflect changes in the terms of Under those agreements, China pays in advance
delivery, it reported. for crude deliveries from Petroecuador, and
These changes will enable the release of 27 Ecuador uses the proceeds of those shipments
cargoes of Ecuadorean crude for sale to China to cover its loan payments. The NOC and the
in 2022 and 2023, in a development that will other parties to the deal have never revealed
allow the government to earn $709mn, the state- how much crude China is receiving as a result of
ment said. All 27 of these cargoes will be sold these arrangements. ™
“on the spot market (daily market price), thus
improving the level of income for each sale,” it
explained.
Petroecuador did not explicitly identify itself
as the seller of these cargoes but noted that the
deal would allow it to deliver another 80 cargoes
of crude to PetroChina at spot market prices. At
current market rates, it said, these shipments
are likely to generate $2.4bn in income for the
government.
The Ecuadorean NOC has been in nego-
tiations with the Chinese company, the main
subsidiary of state-owned China National
Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), since April in a bid
to secure a better price for the oil it exports to
China. It has been seeking, specifically, a better
pricing formula for locally produced crude and
an extension of the deadline for deliveries of oil,
as the contract under discussion is due to expire
in 2024.
As of press time, Petroecuador had not said
how much oil might be included in all 107 of the
cargoes now slated for delivery to PetroChina at
spot market prices.
The NOC began working closely with the
CNPC subsidiary and other Chinese buyers Petroecuador and PetroChina have been in talks since April (Photo: Petroecuador)

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