Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 39 2021

LatAmOil FALKL AND ISL ANDS LatAmOil

It continued: “Therefore, the group has decided price collapse and coronavirus (COVID-19)
to explore the options to exit the project and its pandemic. These events led investors to put
other licence interests in the Falkland Islands.” the Phase 1 pre-development project on hold.
The find, which is estimated to hold around They also saw Harbour decide to review the pro-
1.7bn barrels of oil in-place (OIP), has been a ject once Chrysaor completed its merger with
source of significant tension with Argentina Premier.
because of its location off the coast of the South Harbour is operator with a 60% stake in
Atlantic island chain. The Falklands are a Brit- PL032, which contains the Sea Lion field. The
ish overseas territory but have been claimed by firm also has a 36% stake in PL004, another
Argentina, which mounted a failed invasion of block in the Falklands offshore zone. Both
the islands in 1982. blocks lie within the North Falklands Basin,
In July, Argentina’s government started to more than 200 km north of the islands. ™
impose sanctions on Harbour, citing its activity
in the Falklands offshore zone. Buenos Aires has
repeatedly tried to block ships that it claims are
involved in oil drilling activity in the islands.
Sea Lion was discovered in 2010 by Har-
bour Energy’s minority partner in the project,
UK-listed Rockhopper Exploration. Harbour
was founded in April of this year, following a
merger between Premier Oil and private equi-
ty-owned Chrysaor.
The partners had hoped to launch develop-
ment at the field using a conventional floating
production, storage and off-loading (FPSO)
vessel. However, the project has made little
progress recently, largely owing to last year’s oil Sea Lion is an oilfield within Block PL032 (Image: Harbour Energy)

ECUADOR
Ecuador to fund construction of new

transmission system for oil sector

THE government of Ecuador will make funds the hydrocarbon industry, as crude oil is tradi-
available to private companies for the construc- tionally the South American country’s biggest
tion of $1.9bn worth of new energy facilities, export. Ecuador’s economy took a significant hit
including a new transmission system for the oil last year, owing to the drop in world crude prices
sector. and the decline in energy demand that resulted
The funds will enable companies to build from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
and operate new power plants, Energy Minister Currently, the country is producing around
Juan Carlos Bermeo said last week. “We ratify 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil. State-
our openness to responsible investors,” Bermeo run Petroamazonas, an upstream-focused
was quoted by Reuters as saying during a pres- division of the national oil company (NOC)
entation of the new projects. Petroecuador, accounts for approximately one
According to the minister, the government third of the total.
is seeking investors for several major projects. For its part, Petroecuador exports an aver-
Among these are a new 400-MW natural age of 180,000 bpd of crude. Around two thirds
gas-burning thermal power plant (TPP) worth of these volumes, or 120,000 bpd, are Oriente
$600mn and a 290-km power transmission grade, a high-quality crude extracted from fields
line that will link oil industry facilities to the in Ecuador’s Amazon region.
national grid, he said. The new TPP and cable China became one of the main destinations
are expected to begin operating between 2024 for Ecuadorean crude after 2009, when state-run
and 2026, he added. PetroChina first offered Petroecuador $1bn in
Ecuador’s government is currently mak- financing. This deal was followed by a landmark
ing a push to expand the role of private inves- $2bn agreement in 2012, under which Beijing
tors in key sectors of the economy, in line with agreed to provide Quito with $2bn in energy
the policies favoured by President Guillermo financing in exchange for receiving as much as
Lasso, who took office in May. This includes 90% of Ecuador’s oil exports each year. ™

Week 39 30•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11