Page 13 - LatAmOil Week 42 2022
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LatAmOil                                      ARGENTINA                                            LatAmOil



                         Potential investors that meet the eligibility   tight gas in the Punta Rosada and Lajas forma-
                         requirements will have until November 4 to   tions at depths of 3,000-4,000 metres. More than
                         notify UBS of their interest in the sale and then   300 wells have been drilled there to date, and 58
                         must execute a confidentiality agreement and   of them have been abandoned.
                         compliance certificate by November 11, the   Petrobras did not say whether any other
                         tender documents said.               companies had expressed interest in POSA thus
                           “The parties that comply with these terms   far or reveal how much it hoped to earn from
                         will then be eligible to receive a confidential   the sale. It explained its decision to divest its
                         information memorandum with detailed infor-  Argentinian subsidiary by referring to its “port-
                         mation on POSA’s assets, it stated.  folio optimisation strategy and capital allocation
                           POSA’s only asset is a 33.6% stake in Rio Neu-  improvement, aiming to maximise value and
                         quén, an unconventional (tight) gas field that   higher return to society.” ™
                         straddles the border between Argentina’s Neu-
                         quén and Rio Negro provinces. The remaining
                         equity in the site is split between YPF, Argenti-
                         na’s NOC, with 33.3%; and Pampa Energia, an
                         Argentinian company, with 33.1%.
                           As of September 2022, Rio Neuquén was
                         yielding around 1.52mn cubic metres per day
                         of gas and 700 barrels per day (bpd) of crude
                         oil, condensate and other liquids. The field was
                         discovered by YPF in 1971 and contains mostly   Petrobras is selling its Argentinean assets (File Photo)



                                                       ECUADOR
       Petroecuador hopes to sign new contract




       for expanding gas output at Amistad soon





                         ECUADOR’S national oil company (NOC)   The Amistad gas field is located within a
                         Petroecuador said last week that it expects to   licence area known as Block 06. It lies within the
                         wrap up the process of awarding a contract for   Gulf of Guayaquil, 65 km north-west of Puerto
                         boosting natural gas production at the offshore   Bolivar offshore El Oro Province.
                         Amistad field in the near future.      Amistad is Ecuador’s only operating offshore
                           In a press release, Petroecuador indicated   gas field. It serves as a source of feedstock for
                         that it was nearly ready to sign a deal for the pro-  thermal power plants (TPPs) and petrochemical
                         ject. It did not name its potential partner but said   plants and also provides fuel for public transpor-
                         that it would be signing a 20-year service con-  tation systems.
                         tract, under which the NOC would retain own-  Petroecuador has tried before to find an
                         ership and operatorship of the field on behalf   investor to increase production levels at the
                         of the state while the contractor would assume   field, but its attempts have not been successful.
                         responsibility for investments and operating   It launched a new round of competitive bidding
                         costs.                               in June of this year. ™
                           “We are progressing with the pre-contract
                         process under an integrated service contract
                         model, including financing,” it noted.
                           The chosen contractor will be expected to
                         start work in the fourth quarter of 2023 and
                         remain at Amistad, Petroecuador said in its
                         press release. It will invest about $500mn in
                         exploration and production operations at the
                         field with the goal of bringing production up
                         from the current level of around 24mn cubic
                         feet (679,600 cubic metres) per day to 100 mmcf
                         (2.8mn cubic metres) per day, it added.
                           It went on to say that it was executing the
                         Amistad expansion project in line with the UN’s
                         Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), with an
                         eye toward the energy transition.    The NOC hopes to sign a 20-year service contract for Amistad (Image: Petroecuador)



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