Petroperú will have a participation of no less than 40% in Talara lots

For Petroperú to materialize the long-awaited return to the upstream after 30 years, the Government of Dina Boluarte has launched a “plan B”, with which the state oil company, instead of entering through the front door, will do so as a minority partner of an operating company.

And it is that after announcing with great fanfare, from the city of Talara itself, that the state oil company would enter the lots in the northwest basin, whose contracts expire between 2023 and 2024, now it will be as an economic partner.

Sources consulted by La República assure that these are already agreements made within the Energy and Mining sector. In this sense, Petroperú will enter with a base percentage of 40%, since a smaller participation probably “will not move the needle” in order to guarantee the supply load to its new refinery located in the heart of talaraand surrounded by oil lots.

In this sense, lots VI and Z-2B would go out to a tender, promoted by the state agency Perupetro, in whose bases the obligation to go with Petroperú as a non-operating partner is incorporated, as long as the state agency decides to have some participation.

However, this medium was also able to learn that this percentage of participation could vary in a few years —a natural habit in the industry— depending on various market situations, such as an increase in the production. In this way, Petroperú could increase its participation percentage as a result of a negotiation.

A relevant fact is that the state company will not incur in investments, since these will be assumed by the operating partner. In the same way, it will be this private partner that seeks the qualification of Perupetro as an oil company and not Petroperú; In this way, you would be avoiding various legal and financial locks.

But Petroperú will not go free in this operationsince it will pay with part of its production, which in the industry is called a carry.

interest in lots

Regarding the tender, it was possible to know that this will be the modality selected by Perupetro to the extent that there are two or three candidates interested in the aforementioned lots; however, it was also known that the tender that will be launched tomorrow Thursday the 18th for lots VII and V (with minor productions that together add up to just over 1,000 barrels per day) currently has interested parties.

This way, a direct negotiation with a company would almost be taken for grantedalthough this could occur with Savia (current operator of lot Z-2B), since it is currently a natural partner of Petroperu in northwest.

Greater presence

In the opinion of Alexei Huerta, engineer and professor at UNI, the formula proposed today by the Government is typical of association in other countries, the production sharing agreement (PSA) in markets with state companies associated with private companies, such as Petrobras, Ecopetrol, Petroecuador .

“It is very common and is within our regulatory frameworkbut it is not used,” he said.

He pointed out that not all the time there will be investments in a 30-year contract, perhaps in the first 5 or 6 Petroperú will have 40%, but progressively with some formulation in relation to this ratio of income and expenses, its participation could be increased. “Based on this evaluation of Petroperú (which expected 100%), its participation in each of the lots could be defined,” he suggested.

Unions demand delivery of lots to Petroperú

In a statement dated May 15, the Petroperú unions demanded that President Dina Boluarte approve and publish the supreme decree that grants the oil lots to the state company. This was offered by the Minister Oscar Vera.

They also revealed that, since the Talara lots were privatized, Petroperú has paid between 1994 and 2021 more than US$22 million to buy from private operators the same oil that previously belonged to it.

In 2022, Block VI of Talara had a production of 1,400 barrels per daywhile the performance of the marine batch Z-2B was 4,429 bpd.