Enaex and Contugas propose to invest in Peru for a urea plant

The Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) reported that received a visit from investors to carry out an investment initiative of around US$2,500 referred to the development of the petrochemical industry of fertilizers, which will generate added value to the natural gas.

The proposal was raised by Rodrigo Pastor Amonarraiz and Walter Sciutto Brattoli, general managers of the companies Enaex Peru and SAC, respectively. Both supported a roadmap project to develop a petrochemical project for urea and ammonium nitrate, which are the main inputs for the production of fertilizers.

According to the petrochemical engineer Ricardo Bisso, the proposed initiative would resume what was advanced between 2012 and 2015 by the company Nitratos del Perú. He stressed that one advantage is that the project has an approved Environmental Impact Study (EIA).

However, one of the bottlenecks that the expert warns revolves around the recovery of the raw material, that is, the natural gas molecule, today in the hands of the Camisea Consortium led by Pluspetrol.

“That has to be renegotiated and valued at the wellhead, which today stands at US$2 a million BTUs. That way it would be attractive for the investor”, noted Bisso.

Likewise, he estimated that the project could have a production of 400,000 tons per year with a surplus of 1 million for export. The construction of the plant and the export facilities would take about three years.

An important aspect that must be defined previously is the location of the plant, since it will still need an outlet to the sea, and if urea is exported, containers and an important logistics system are required with a loading port that supports large ships. with long drafts.

The key

Location. According to the Minem, San Juan de Marcona (Ica), Zona Industrial I-4 (Paracas), among others, are areas of the country conducive to the development of petrochemicals.