Petroperú assets were wasted by just US$863 million

Today, when it has been proposed to privatize Petroperú 100%, through bill 5977 of Avanza País, specialists agree that it is appropriate to analyze the balance of this process that began during the Fujimori era.

Humberto Campodónico, former president of Petroperurecalled that in 2007 the state oil company specified that the company’s main business units were sold to the private sector for US$863 million (US$673 million for asset sales, plus US$190 million for annual transfers for the oil fields). Petromar and supply terminals in various parts of the country). This money was transferred to the Public Treasury and not to the company.

In this way, Petroperú established at US$1,324 million the loss due to privatization between 1992 and 2005. The expert points out that it is important to note that there should be an update of that figure, something that has not been done until now.

If privatization was a bad deal for the State, it was not like that for the private sector, which in the last 30 years has generated significant income, says Jorge Manco Zaconetti, a researcher at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM).

La Pampilla and Solgas

The La Pampilla Refinery It was the country’s main refinery, with a capacity of 102,000 barrels per day. The refinery land alone was valued at US$108 million, but in 1996, 60% of its shares were sold for US$180 million to Repsol. The remainder, sold a year later, left a total sale of US$250 million.

Manco Zaconetti remembers that this refinery meant income of US$650 million for Petroperú and a profit of US$60 million per year. “Today that refinery is billing you for almost US$4,000 million and Repsol recovered its investment in the first three years. A bad business for the State”, he questioned.

In the case of Solgasa company dedicated to the packaging, marketing, transportation, distribution and sale of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was sold in July 1992 for US$7.5 million to the Chilean consortium Lipigas-Codigas. In 1995 Solgas was resold to Repsol for no more than US$40 million; and in 2015 Repsol resold Solgas to the Chilean group Abastible for US$262 million.

“What the State got rid of for US$7.5 million, this Chilean group years later paid US$262 million. This is a second tangible case of a sale at a hammer price that private parties do know how to value,” lamented the expert.

A third flagrant case, comments the San Marcos researcher, is that of Transoceanic, the State’s oil fleet in charge of Petroperú, which consisted of 4 cabotage maritime transport vessels, with a capacity of 105.00 that cost Peru US$85 million. They were valued in the privatization process at US$25 million and acquired in 1994 by the Chilean Ultramar holding company of the Von Appen group, through a subsidiary Glenpoint based in Panama.

Starting in 2007, it changed its name to Naviera Transoceánica, and today it consists of 9 modern, multipurpose vessels, 15 tugboats, maritime transport contracts with Petroperú from 2007 to 20022 has disbursed more than US$472 million. “That is, Petroperú pays for a service that was theirs until 1994 to transport fuel and oil to the various terminals,” Manco remarked.

Oil lots

In the case of the oil lots that belonged to Petroperú, official statistics indicate that production, in the hands of private operators, declined from almost 130,000 per day to 40,000 thousand barrels.

Just to cite one case, Manco recalls that in June 1996, the Lot 8 of the northern jungle. For that lot, he specifies, US$142 million were paid, including US$25 million in security papers in the price. external debt (depreciated).

“Lot 8, acquired by Pluspetrol Corporation, was the golden goose egg for them. With the surpluses and profits from Lot 8, Pluspetrol purchased the contract for lot 1-ab (today 192) from OXY in 2000, for more than US$300 million, and also thanks to Lot 8, Pluspetrol was able to finance the participation of 27.2% in Camisea for the operations of lot 88 and 56,” recalled the specialist.

Other privatized lots were Lot X XI, but also the 85 taps at a value of US#39 million. This story seeks to repeat the extreme right.

Lot 56 of Camisea was handed over by hand

Lot 56, with reserves that are destined for the export of natural gas, was delivered by Perupetro to the Camisea Consortium in direct negotiation, there was no international bidding.

The COPRIentity in charge of the privatization process of assets of Petroperu In 1996, it had economist Jorge González Izquierdo as president.

In the last seven years, Petroperú contributed more than US$9,000 million in taxes to the Peruvian State.