Page 14 - LatAmOil Week 08 2023

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

Challenger has a 100% stake in AREA OFF-1 (Image: Challenger Energy)

That part of the South Atlantic conjugate margin oil company (NOC) ANCAP has awarded five
has yielded several multi-billion-barrel discov- more offshore blocks to IOCs, leaving only one
eries since early 2022, including Venus (assigned offshore licence area unassigned. In May 2022,
to France’s TotalEnergies) and Graff (assigned to ANCAP signed contracts with Shell for AREA
Shell of the UK). OFF-2 and AREA OFF-7 and with APA Corp.
Challenger secured its licence for AREA (US) for AREA OFF-6. Then in December 2022,
OFF-1 in May 2020, becoming one of the first it signed contracts with a joint venture formed
international oil companies (IOCs) to enter by Shell and APA for AREA OFF-4 and with
Uruguay’s offshore zone. Since then, the national Argentina’s NOC YPF for AREA OFF-5. ™

ARGENTINA
Argentina’s National Congress seen

delaying debate on LNG bill until March

ARGENTINA’S National Congress is looking to changes made to the bill.
start debating a draft law designed to encourage However, he did say that the draft law
investment in natural gas and LNG projects next included provisions that offered tax breaks to
month, a source in the South American coun- investors that committed to LNG projects with
try’s Energy Secretariat told Reuters last week. specific annual investment targets and mini-
Legislators had said previously that they mum investment levels.
hoped to discuss the bill, which aims to encour- Additionally, he noted that it would offer
age construction of new gas transportation investors certain guarantees from the govern-
infrastructure and LNG production and export ment in order to reduce the political risk of gas
facilities, in January or February of this year – and LNG projects. These guarantees will defi-
that is, during a special session of the National nitely include a commitment to keep tax rates
Congress. stable and may include 30-year export author-
But according to Reuters’ source, they were isations, he said.
not able to do so in light of certain changes made The draft law is seen as a vital step toward
to the draft legislation. supporting large-scale development of the Vaca
As such, debate is now likely to continue in Muerta shale basin, which contains unconven-
March, during the next regular session of the tional gas reserves large enough to serve the
National Congress, the source said. export market as well as Argentina’s domestic
He did not detail the exact nature of the gas consumers.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 22•February•2023