Page 7 - LatAmOil Week 49 2022

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It also referred to official CNH data showing
that no exploration wells were ever drilled at the
sites. Repsol had originally informed the com-
mission that it hoped to find crude oil and wet
natural gas at the offshore blocks, which lie in
the northern section of Mexico’s portion of the
Gulf. (Tamaulipas borders on Texas.)
Repsol signed PSCs with CNH for Area 5
and Area 12, also known as Block CNH-R03-
L01-G-BG-05/2018 and Block CNH-R03-
L01-G-BG-07/2018 respectively, in June 2018,
within the framework of Licensing Round
3.1-Shallow Water Exploration. Under those
PSCs, the exploration phases of the projects is
due to end this year.
In the initial phase of work at the blocks, the
Spanish company carried out seismic processing
operations and then submitted its exploration
plans to CNH for approval by the end of 2019. Its
initial focus was on data processing and acquisi- Repsol gained access to Area 5 and Area 12 in 2018 (Image: Repsol)
tion, and in 2021 its only project activities were
conducting geological and geophysical studies. the drilling of at least one exploration well, so it
By March 2022, Repsol was saying that appears to have opted not to do so.
it wanted to reduce the acreage covered by The exit from Area 5 and Area 12 will leave
the Area 12 PSC by 50% in order to exclude Repsol with just one upstream Mexican project
non-hydrocarbon-bearing zones, but it had not in its portfolio. The Spanish company formally
yet decided whether to extend its exploration withdrew from three other offshore projects,
period in order to allow for further study. Under including a shallow-water PSC offshore Tabasco
the conditions of its contract, it could not have State and two deepwater licences off the coast of
obtained an extension without committing to Tamaulipas and Veracruz States, last month. ™

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Shareholders in Atlantic LNG reach

agreement on shareholder reorganisation

PARTNERS in Atlantic LNG, the operator of a
gas liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago,
have finally reached an agreement on the
reorganisation of ownership structures in the
facility’s production trains after four years of
negotiations.
The new deal between the parties serves
to dissolve the old arrangement under which
Atlantic LNG split equity in each production
train among a different group of investors.
Instead, it consolidates all four of the joint ven-
tures and brings the production trains into a
single unitised entity with a common ownership
structure and commercial framework.
As a result of this consolidation, Atlantic
LNG’s two biggest shareholders, BP (UK) and
Shell (UK), will see their holdings in two of the Atlantic LNG will now have a unitised ownership structure (Photo: Atlantic LNG)
plant’s production trains shrink. However, the
companies will continue to hold equity stakes in LNG expand. State-owned NGC had previously
the second, third and fourth trains of the facility. held stakes in only two trains, but it has now
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago’s National gained stakes in the other two trains as well as a
Gas Co. (NGC) will see its holdings in Atlantic consequence of the consolidation.

Week 49 07•December•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7