Peruvian President Ollanta Humala Tasso has enacted legislation that mandates a long-planned modernization and upgrade of the Talara refinery be completed by 2017 on the grounds of public necessity and national interest.
The bill, signed into law on Dec. 17, outlines a 4-year modernization megaproject at Talara that will cost an estimated US $3.5 billion, according to a release from the Peruvian government.
State-owned Petroperu will invest $2.7 million, while private companies involved in the construction and operation of new service units for the upgrade will invest the remaining $765 million, Humala said.
Following completion of the modernization project, which is slated to run from 2014 to 2017, crude oil processing capacity at Talara will rise to 95,000 b/d from its current capacity of 60,000 b/d, according to Humala.
Previous plans to modernize the Talara refinery, located at Piura, 1,200 km north of the country’s capital, Lima, faced a series of delays due to allegations of political corruption in the bidding process (OGJ Online, Oct. 13, 2008; Jan. 28, 2008; May 5, 2003).