Page 12 - LatAmOil Week 11 2023

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

Shell went on to say that it was too early to spec- during his current term than he was during his
ulate on the potential impacts of the tax meas- first two terms in office, which lasted from 2003
ure because it could be overturned or extended until 2010. It has also generated some specula-
by Brazil’s National Congress. “This measure, tion about a possible uptick in resource nation-
which was announced with no significant con- alism in Latin America’s largest oil-producing
sultation with the industry, brings uncertainty to state.
new investment decisions, negatively impacting Brazil has historically offered regulatory and
the country’s competitiveness in the upstream contract security in a region better known for
sector – one where Brazil carries significant geo- oil expropriations and tax hikes. In the past, the
logical potential,” the company said. country has left existing contracts in place when
Equinor sent its own separate statement to it has overhauled oil regulations, taking care not
Bloomberg urging the government to show to re-legislate the fate of ongoing projects.
“absolute respect” for contracts in order to For his part, Jean Paul Prates, the new CEO of
ensure long-term and robust investments in the the national oil company (NOC) Petrobras and
country. Meanwhile, Repsol, Galp and Total did a close ally of Lula, said at the CERAWeek con-
not immediately respond to requests for com- ference in Houston last week that he did not see
ment, even though they were listed in court doc- the export tax as a smart way to resolve Brazil’s
uments as parties to the injunctions. fiscal problems. He expressed confidence the tax
The new tax policy has raised concerns about would expire at the end of June and added that
the possibility that Lula might be less interested Petrobras had no plans to file an injunction of
in co-operating with the business community its own. ™

ARGENTINA
YPF, Petronas hope to make FID

on Argentina GNL project next year

ARGENTINA’S national oil company (NOC) $5-6bn investment and will involve the con-
YPF and its Malaysian counterpart Petronas struction of facilities capable of producing up
expect to make a final investment decision to 5mn tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG, he said.
(FID) on a natural gas and LNG project in 2024. Petronas sent a team of experts to Argentina last
Pablo Iuliano, the CEO of YPF, told report- month to draw up plans for this stage, he said,
ers at the CERAWeek conference in Houston without elaborating.
last week that the partners had drawn up plans Iuliano did not provide an exact breakdown
for carrying out the $60bn project, known as of the other four stages of the Argentina GNL
Argentina GNL, in five separate phases. The ini- project.
tiative is designed to help Argentina monetise its However, he did say that the first phase
vast unconventional gas reserves and become an would be followed by further activities aimed
exporter of LNG, he said. at integrating gas production, storage, pipeline
The first phase of the project will require a transportation and liquefaction.

Petronas and YPF signed an agreement on a study of the Argentina GNL project last September (Photo: Petronas)

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 11 15•March•2023