Peru's state oil agency Perupetro released a generalized timetable starting in early 2001 of licensing rounds for offshore blocks left pending since 1999.
Perupetro Pres. Rafael Samaniego said that following a reassessment of the previous geological model for a "floor fan complex," companies will be looking for giant fields in deeper waters off Peru's coast (OGJ, Sept. 7, 1998, p. 117).
Blocks Z-4, Z-5, Z-6 and Z-7 off Peru's north coast are to be included in the first round. It will also include a neighboring block with acreage released by Petrotech International Corp., Houston, in accordance with the company's production contract that has completed 7 of its 30 years. Petrotech will retain about half of the block, where it produces 12,000 b/d of oil.
The first-round blocks are east of Block Z-1 where Perez Companc of Argentina is exploring and Z-3 where Occidental Peruana Inc. is exploring.
A second round consisting of blocks in the Salaverry basin off Trujillo is to be held in April or May, and a third round is on tap later in the year for blocks off the southern coast.
The government in late August reduced the minimum royalty percentage allowed in offshore operations to 10% instead of 15% in 200-400 m of water and to 5% in more than 400 m of water.
