The changes of minister and vice-ministers in the Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) should not jeopardize the strategy that the Government had already been working on regarding the announced renegotiation of Camisea, something that, according to various sources consulted, could happen.
Along with the change of Guido Bellido in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, last Wednesday, October 6, the removal of Iván Merino, head of the Minem, and his replacement by the engineer Eduardo Gonzales Toro, who according to journalistic versions has an old link with Vladimir Cerrón, since He ran for Congress for Lima in 2016 for the Peru Libertario party (now Peru Libre), but his candidacy was withdrawn.
To put the topic in context. Before the Merino change, there were two central axes, in energy matters, in which the Minem thought to exhaust efforts. The first of them the true strengthening of Petroperú, which meant the long-awaited return to the upstream (exploration and production of hydrocarbons) and its participation in the massification of the 7 regions. To that extent, the shareholders’ meeting changed the board of directors of the state company and this in turn made a strong change at the management level.
While some of the changes to the Petroperú have responded to political / partisan issues –according to unofficial sources–, the state company has to resolve various crucial issues, including the possible delay in the start of operations of the Talara refinery, entry to Block 192 when the prior consultation ends, the possibility of entering the Talara oil blocks and the situation of the oil pipeline, to name a few.
Camisea Strategy
In these first 70 days, the Minem also began to outline the strategy of what would be the renegotiation of the Camisea contracts, in compliance with the political will of the Pedro Castillo government. For this reason, the role of Minister Merino, whose true reason for his departure is unknown to date, as well as that of his Vice Ministry of Hydrocarbons, had been key.
The Republic has learned that the Vice Ministers of Electricity and Hydrocarbons would be replaced in the coming days, the latter being key in the design and support for a specialized group to be in charge of the renegotiation strategy with Camisea.
Thus, if the support from Minem itself were lost, it would remain to be defined and determined what the decision will be regarding who will lead the renegotiation with the consortium that today has lots 56 and 88 of Camisea from a technical and economic point of view.
Key Redoubts
As described above, the Economics and Finance office, led by Pedro Francke, would have a lot to say, since taking at face value what the PCM said a few days ago: the renegotiation with Camisea involves a new distribution of profits, that is, a strictly economic issue. For his part, Francke has said that he will prioritize dialogue.
Likewise, according to the Supreme Resolution No. 108-2021-PCM created by the Multisectoral Commission chaired today by Mirtha Vásquez, this group will have the function of preparing a final report (in 60 business days) with the proposals for “the expansion of natural gas reserves to advance its overcrowding at the national level, the development of the natural gas infrastructure to advance its massification in the regions of Cusco, Puno, Apurímac, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, and the mechanisms that allow promoting and guaranteeing the massification of natural gas at the national level ”.
In this sense, it follows that expanding reserves has to do with new contractual conditions, which would imply greater investments on the part of the licensees, that is, greater income to the treasury, which is under the scope of the MEF.
Meanwhile, the PCM will also have a preponderant role because it will be the commission under its presidency that in December will have to present the report that, in good account, will define the Executive’s political mandate on what is sought to be renegotiated with the Camisea Consortium.
In the same way, once the final report of the PCM commission has been delivered, it is Perupetro who has the mandate to renegotiate with the companies. So it needs Aurelio Ochoa, expert in energy issues and former president of Perupetro.
“According to the law and the same contracts, it is Perupetro who presides over the renegotiations, as the representative of the Peruvian State. It is Perupetro who is at the head of the renegotiating commission ”, he affirmed.
Therefore, he stressed that the selection of the person who will lead Perupetro as well as the rest of the directory will be extremely important.
Ochoa Alencastre also noted that in the conformation of the renegotiating commission, care must be taken to select professionals who have not had a direct or indirect relationship with the Camisea Consortium.
Petroperú and possible damage related to Block 192
This newspaper learned that a meeting of the Petroperú board will be held today where, among other points, the agreement taken could be withdrawn so that Altamesa be the strategic partner of the state company in the operation of Block 192.
It is important to note that this company was selected by Bank of America in a process, which was ratified in a board session this year and, subsequently, reported to the public opinion.
The legal technical report that supports the initiative to annul the previous board of directors agreement will be key.
However, for Aurelio Ochoa, reversing such a decision could harm Petroperú to the extent that Altamesa was chosen within the framework of a selection process. “They could calmly prosecute Petroperú for breach of contract and it has to beat it, if the new board does not have a compelling justification,” he said.
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Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
