Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 27

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NEWS IN BRIEF
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UPSTREAM
Pemex gets green light
for drilling at ultra-deep
offshore field
Mexico’s national oil company (NOC) Pemex is reportedly moving forward with plans to develop an ultra-deepwater eld in the Gulf of Mexico, despite recent statements outlining its plan to focus on less complicated shallow-water and onshore projects.
Reuters reported last week that the company had secured approval for its plan to drill explo- ration wells at a site in the Perdido Fold Belt. Pemex is due to spud the rst well at the site in the second quarter of 2021, and it has said it intends to invest $106mn in the project over a period of four years.
Alma American Porres, a commissioner with Mexico’s National Hydrocarbons Com- mission (known as NHC), told Reuters that the company would need to look for a partner if it nds commercial oil reserves. Pemex lacks the technology needed to work in waters more than 3,000 metres deep on its own, she explained.
MIDSTREAM
Petrobras to start selling
shares in gas distribution
unit in late July
Brazil’s national oil company (NOC) Petrobras has released a prospectus outlining plans for the sale of shares in its natural gas distribution subsidiary.
The document states that the company intends to sell o at least 25% of all shares in Petrobras Distribuidora, beginning in late July of
this year. It also notes that the amount of equity made available in the o ering could eventually rise to 33.75% via overallotment provisions.
e share o ering will e ectively privatise the distributor, since it will bring the NOC’s stake in Petrobras Distribuidora down from its current level of 71.25% to less than 50%.
At current stock prices, the sale might bring in as much as BRL9.28bn. Petrobras said last week that it intended to price the securities on July 23 and then wrap up additional and supple- mentary allotment sales by August 28.
DOWNSTREAM
YPFB says Bolivian refineries
are using just 65% of
throughput capacity
Bolivia’s national oil company (NOC) YPFB has con rmed that its two re neries, the Gualberto Villarroel plant in Cochabamba and the Guill- ermo Elder Bell plant in Santa Cruz, are cur- rently using only 65% of their installed capacity.
e facilities are capable of processing 64,200 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil but are only handling about 42,000 bpd, the NOC said last week. It was responding to reports that a repre- sentative of the union representing workers at the re neries had put the gure at 44,000-46,000 bpd.
According to YPFB, capacity utilisation has been low lately because of di culties collecting payments from buyers in Brazil, the main market for Bolivian re ned fuels..
YPF and Shell hike gasoline prices in Argentina
national oil company (NOC) YPF announcing a 2.5% increase and the local unit of Royal Dutch/ Shell following suit with a 2.1% hike.
In a statement, YPF attributed its decision to developments on world energy markets. It also said it was pushing diesel prices up by 1.75%.
Other retailers are set to make a similar move; both Axion and Puma issued statements last week con rming that they intended to raise gas- oline prices soon.
e rate hike drew criticism from FECRA, Argentina’s fuel retail federation. Hernan Land- grebe, the group’s secretary, told Perfil that higher prices would be burdensome for both individuals and businesses.
PRODUCTION
Brazilian oil, gas yields hit record highs
Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) stated last week that the country had set new record in crude oil and nat- ural gas output.
In May, it said, Brazilian fields produced 2.731mn barrels per day (bpd) of crude and 118mn cubic metres (mcm) per day, for a total of 3.473mn barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). is put oil yields nearly 0.04% above the previous record high of 2.73 million bpd set in December 2016, it said. It also noted that the gure was 4.9% up on the April gure and 4.7% above the number posted in the same month of 2018.
Meanwhile, gas production was 0.85% above the previous record high of 117 mcm per day, which was set in October 2018.
POLICY
US sanctions hit Cuba’s
state oil export and import
concern
e US government has imposed sanctions on Cuba’s state-owned oil import and export con- cern Cubametales, citing the company’s contin- ued involvement in fuel trade with Venezuela.
e Treasury Department took this step last week in response to reports that Cubametales had continued to import crude oil and re ned fuels from Venezuela in exchange for assisting the administration of President Nicolas Maduro with security and defence issues.
Under the sanctions regime, the Cuban com- pany will freeze all of Cubametales’ assets, as well as those of any company in which it holds a stake of more than 50%.
Two of Argentina’s two largest sellers of re ned fuels raised gasoline prices last week, with the
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