Uruguay opens up to oil exploration
02/04/2012
Uruguay opens up to oil exploration
Marks ‘new era’, says state-owned petroleum company
Richard Jansen
URUGUAY has awarded eight oil exploration blocks to international energy companies, in the hopes of emulating the offshore success of neighbouring Brazil.
According to the government, BP, British Gas, Total and Tullow will invest just under US$1.6bn in exploring Uruguayan waters. The state-owned petroleum company ANCAP will be able to take a stake of up to 35% in each of the projects, and has the option to buy any and all of the oil produced for Uruguayan consumption.
ANCAP president Raul Sendic claims that the successful auction “opens a new era in the exploration of hydrocarbons in Uruguay.”
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The auction is only the second ever carried out by the South American country, which currently imports all of its fuel and petroleum products. In 2009 it auctioned the rights to two blocks to a consortium made up of state-run oil firms Petrobras and YPF – owned by Brazil and Argentina respectively – and Portuguese corporation GALP.
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