Talara Blocks 204 and 205: Why did Perupetro undo the Seferino Yesquén tender?

In January 2021, the Perupetro board of directors, led by Seferino Yesquénapproved the formation of only two blocks in Talara, 204 and 205, to award, in advance, the oil contracts that were to expire between 2023 and 2028.

Seven lots from Talara -in addition to Lot 8 from the jungle- were going to be divided into two packages: the first, to be delivered in the first semester of that same year, included deposits I, II, V, VI/VII, X and XV. It never happened, and the new president of Perupetro, Isabel Tafurexplained the reasons during his visit to the Piurana city, where he also announced that lots I, VI, Z2-B and X would revert to Petroperú.

“When we assumed the presidency of the board of directors four months ago, we saw that having only two lots was a real problem, because according to the qualification regulations, there were very few companies that could access the lots,” he said.

The main criticism that existed against the tender for only two blocks promoted by Seferino Yesquén is that it unquestionably favored the Chinese company CPNC, which today operates Block X, the largest in the northwest basin (10,000 barrels per day). .

According to Tafur, the other reason was that the winning companies would have a “dominant position in the market”, that is to say, that between them “it would be very easy to agree on a price for a barrel of oil”.

“Or a monopoly was going to be created, because company A could buy company B. When it is a purchase of shares, nobody finds out. I already bought and now I am the owner of the two companies even though they have different names. The situation would be worse,” explained the head of Perupetro.

Finally, Tafur Marín indicated that a social problem could be generated in the Talara region, since by concentrating seven lots in just two, the winning company would reduce the payroll in the same proportion.

“So instead of hiring 8 accountants, 8 HR workers, and 8 engineers for different services, we were only going to have 2 in each position and that was really going to create a social problem.” […] Today we want all the workers to continue their duties,” he noted.