The consortia led by Argentinean companies Pluspetrol SA and Tecgas SA have postponed the signing of contracts and concessions for the Camisea natural gas project, scheduled for Nov. 28, until further notice. The companies now hope to be able to sign the contracts by mid-December.
Pluspetrol formed one consortium with US company Hunt Oil Co. and Korea's SK Corp. in order to exploit the Camisea fields, and another with Tecgas, Pluspetrol, Hunt Oil, SK Corp., and the Algerian state oil company Sonatrach for the concessions to transport and distribute liquids and natural gas.
The companies gave as "the only reason" for the delay the fact that Peru's interim president, Valentin Paniagua, who was sworn in Nov. 22, has yet to appoint new ministers.
Peru's previous cabinet resigned in the midst of a political crisis that led Congress to declare the presidency vacant and accuse former president Alberto Fujimori of "permanent moral incapacity."
Fujimori sent a letter of resignation to the presidency from Tokyo where he stopped after attending the APEC conference in Brunei, following allegations that he had connections with the alleged criminal activities of his former intelligence advisor Vladimiro Montesinos.