Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 06 2020

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For its part, Trafigura has said it “is continuing to keep these matters under review and is tak- ing the allegations previously made seriously.” Reuters noted, though, that the trading firm has previously denied that its current management were aware of improper payments.
Meanwhile, Vitol has asserted that it “has a zero tolerance policy in respect of bribery and corruption”.
Petrobras is currently trying to pay down its debts and recover from the ongoing corrup- tion scandal. Its strategy hinges on plans for the divestment of non-core assets. The sales are meant to help the company focus on Brazil’s
deepwater pre-salt area.
Last December, Petrobras said it was intend-
ing to sell around $20-30bn worth of assets, including eight Brazilian refineries, between 2020 and 2024. The firm has also said it may sell sections of Marlim, one of Brazil’s largest oil- fields, as well as its majority stake in the smaller Papa-Terra Field, among other assets.
The major, which has become one of the larg- est oil companies in the world through its devel- opment of pre-salt assets, has estimated that the additional sell-offs and other cost-cutting meas- ures will boost its equity value by roughly 45% by 2021. ™
Shell, Equinor take 49% stake in Bandurria Sur block
ARGENTINA
ANGLO-DUTCH major Royal Dutch Shell and its partner, the Norwegian energy firm Equinor, recently completed their joint acquisition of a 49% interest in the Bandurria Sur onshore block, located in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale basin. Each partner paid $177.5mn for a 24.5% stake, Equinor said in a statement.
The two companies acquired rights to the block, which is located in Neuquén Province in central Argentina, from the international oilfield services company Schlumberger. Bandurria Sur covers around 227 square km in the central area of Vaca Muerta, one of the largest shale forma- tions in the world.
The current operator of the field is Argenti- na’s national oil company (NOC) YPF. It is in the late stages of a pilot development programme and is currently yielding around 10,000 bar- rels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), Equinor noted.
“We are very pleased to partner with Shell in the Bandurria Sur block, an asset in an area with significant potential, and to further develop our close partnership with YPF, with whom we are already exploring several onshore, offshore and renewable opportunities in Argentina,” said Nidia Álvarez Crogh, Equinor’s country man- ager for Argentina.
“We are broadening our activities in Argen- tina in support of our strategy to build interna- tional growth options,” she added.
The two majors hope eventually to expand their stakes in Bandurria Sur. They have already struck a preliminary agreement with YPF to acquire a further 11% interest in the block, Equinor said.
Following that additional transaction, which is still subject to certain approvals, each firm will own a 30% non-operated interest in the block.
YPF will hold a 40% interest and will continue as operator.
Vaca Muerta, which is around the size of Bel- gium, contains around 308tn cubic feet (8.722tn cubic metres) of shale gas, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). It is expected to give a significant boost to Argenti- na’s gas output as production ramps up.
Shell, which has been doing business in Argentina for decades, already has stakes in six other blocks in the country, of which it operates four. Equinor, which entered Argentina in 2017, is a shareholder in eight offshore blocks, six of which it operates. ™
YPF has been the operator of Bandurria Sur (Photo: YPF)
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