Despite their withdrawal from Peru's Camisea gas fields megaproject last year, units of Royal Dutch/Shell and Mobil Corp. remain committed to exploring acreage adjoining the Camisea block.
Shell Prospecting & Development Peru BV and Mobil Exploration & Producing Peru Inc. late last month notified Perupetro SA, Peru's state petroleum agency, that it will continue exploring Block 75 neighboring the Camisea natural gas fields.
Shell-Mobil withdrew from the Camisea fields in July 1998 after failing to reach agreement with the government for their development. It had at the time, however, begun drilling an exploration well under a separate contract with Perupetro on Block 75 in the Ucayali basin.
Exploration continues
The first 2-year exploration stage of the consortium's contract expires Sept. 18.
Operator Shell last year made a major gas find in the block, on the same trend as the Camisea natural gas fields.
In the second stage, Shell-Mobil has 1 year in which to acquire a minimum 170 line-km of seismic survey. If it continues to explore after Sept. 17, 2000, the combine will be required to drill one exploration well per year.
Shell-Mobil's first well, Pagoreni 1-X, tapped natural gas reserves estimated at 3 tcf. The consortium, however, has decided to continue exploring before developing the reserves.
Shell as operator holds 57.5% of the contract, with Mobil holding 42.5%.
Block 78, Camisea
Mobil has also requested an extension of its separate exploration contract in Block 78 of the Madre de Dios basin in association with Elf Petroleum Peru BV and Esso Exploration & Production Peru Ltd. for jungle Block 78 (see related story, this page).
Both Shell and Mobil are among companies that have bought bid documents for Camisea project tenders to be held by yearend: one is for a 40-year production contract covering the Camisea gas fields; the other is for a separate concession to transport gas and liquids and for distributing gas in Lima (OGJ, Aug. 23, 1999, p. 34).
The fields are 320 miles east of Lima. Camisea's reserves are estimated at 13 tcf of natural gas and 600 million bbl of condensate.
Perupetro recently postponed a scheduled offshore license round pending results of the Camisea tender (OGJ, Aug. 23, 1999, Newsletter).
