The extension of the legislature will give a break to the attempt of Congress to perpetuate, through PL 804/2021-CR in the Energy and Mines Commission, the concession of oil and gas lots that are close to expiredespite the fact that from April the Talara refinery will start operating with a capacity of up to 95,000 barrels per day (BPD) and the firm objective of promoting the national hydrocarbon industry.
Thus, the initiative promoted by Popular Action would mean for the country the loss of oil income of at least US$255 million each year, estimated UNMSM researcher Jorge Manco Zaconetti. This, assuming that the Parliament “does not side with the citizens” and sends to Petroperú, as was done by law with Lot 192, the concession of lots X and VII/VI, about to be reverted to the State. in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The lots in the Talara basin, whose concession is about to end, are CNPC’s X (2024), Sapet’s VII/VI (2023), UNNA’s V (2023), Savia’s Z-2B (2023) and lots II (2026) and lot XV (2028), both operated by Petromont.
The initiative of Congressman Carlos Alva, president of the commission, It would mean that each of these fields retroactively went from having a 30-year concession to a 40-year concession.
“Lots X and VII/VI, when the value of a barrel was 30 dollars in the market, were already profitable. With today’s prices, much more. Thus, I optimize the mixture of heavy crude from the jungle with that from Talara, which is a blessing, because it produces a lot distilled medium and almost no residuals”, he explains.
Manco specifies that, in addition to the 20,000 BPD that could be produced with lots I (already with an interim concession of 22 months), X and VII/VI, Petroperú would satisfy the gas requirements to lay the foundations for a “vertical integration”, which occurs when a business is responsible for the execution of more than one phase.
Synergies with the refinery
It is important to remember that the refinery is fed from the plots of the Talara basin and that is why it was decided to build it in that city. Petroperú, owner of the Talara refinery, buys that oil paying international prices.
In this sense, the specialist in energy issues explains that, in addition to promoting the new refinery, the oil income would help pay Petroperú’s US$ 5,000 million debt, which has to generate in the next 30 years an average of between 150 and 170 million dollars per year only for amortization plus interest.
“This law would be serious for Petroperú because it would represent a reprivatization of the lots. There is a lot of business interest at stake, even Camisea, which has 22 of the 40 years of concession and in practice does not make investments, could benefit from this rule, ”he said.
The Union of Administrative Workers of Petroperú (Stapp) considered that, instead of PL 804/2021, Congress should approve a law that allows the return of the state company to the oil lots and wells, in order to “strengthen their financial backs” and fulfill its mission of lowering the price of hydrocarbons in favor of the population. “We don’t want to think that hidden interests are being protected,” the union said.
The importance of oil revenue for the country
Oil rent is translated as the difference between the value of the hydrocarbons extracted from the subsoil at international market prices and the efficient extraction costs, at the wellhead.
For example, the estimated production cost of each barrel of oil in the Talara basin is about $20. However, the price of the international WTI market rules, which this week exceeded 90 dollars, levels not seen since 2014.
A central aspect that the commission will have to define is whether there will be a reduction in the payment of royalties in future extensions of the contracts contemplated in this law, as recommended by some of the opinions requested by the commission. This issue is of special interest to the MEF to the extent that it objects that the royalty should not be less than the canon, since this difference would have to be assumed by the public treasury.
The word
Jorge Manco Zaconetti, UNMSM researcher
“They have preferred to give priority to a lobbying law, instead of the proposal to massify natural gas, which was presented long before and in which Petroperú is also given a series of assignments.”
The numbers
12 thousand barrels of oil per day produced the Lot X of the Chinese CNPC in 2021.
95,000 barrels of crude per day will be processed at the new Talara refinery.
210 thousand barrels were consumed every day in Peru, on average, in 2021.
Source: Larepublica
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