Page 11 - LatAmOil Week 02 2023

LatAmOil SURINAME LatAmOil

Meanwhile, the company stated that it had also overtures.
sought to foster cross-border cooperation with “APA Suriname has entered a mutual aid
respect to oil spill response and clean-up. Even memorandum of understanding [MoU] with
though its only upstream assets in the region local exploration and production companies in
are in Surinamese waters, it explained, APA has the Suriname/Guyana areas to make the indus-
been seeking to work with local and national try’s collective expertise and technology avail-
government agencies in neighbouring Guyana able in oil spill preparedness and response,” it
to discuss oil spill preparedness measures and stated.
training exercises. APA’s partner in Block 58 is TotalEnergies
The company views Guyanese participation (France). The latter company holds a 50% stake
in such exercises as crucial and is seeking Guya- in the block and also serves as its operator. The
nese input on cross-border communication pro- partners have made several discoveries there –
tocols because the two countries’ offshore zones Maka Central, Kwaskwasi, Sapakara Central,
are contiguous, the report noted. (Indeed, Block Keskesi, Sapakara South and Krabdagu, which
58 itself borders on Guyana’s maritime zone on are believed to hold several billion barrels of
the western side.) oil equivalent (boe) collectively. However, they
The report went on to say that APA’s Suri- have yet to announce a final investment decision
namese subsidiary had sought to formalise these (FID). ™

BRAZIL
Incoming Petrobras CEO says he won’t

directly intervene in domestic fuel pricing

JEAN Paul Prates, the incoming CEO of Brazil’s from transportation and other considerations,
national oil company (NOC) Petrobras, indi- he asserted.
cated last week that he intended to change fuel “Today you are simulating a diesel made in
pricing policies but would not directly intervene Rotterdam plus freight, plus expenses and put-
in domestic markets. ting that price in the refineries that are produc-
Speaking to reporters on January 5, Prates ing here,” Reuters quoted him as saying. “So we
said that under his leadership, Petrobras would will simply try to balance this – without forcing,
not seek to control petroleum prices outright or without imposing a tariff, with absolutely no
decouple the domestic and international fuel direct intervention in the market.”
markets. Instead, he said, the NOC will “unlink Prates did not say when the new policy might
them from import parity.” take effect. He has not yet assumed his post,
Current policies disadvantage consumers even though his predecessor Caio Mário Paes
and companies that produce oil within Brazil de Andrade has resigned, as he must first take a
by taking into account the extra costs stemming seat on Petrobras’ board of directors.

Prates says Petrobras will decouple domestic fuel prices from import parity (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Week 02 11•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P11