By an OGJ correspondent
LIMA, Jan. 22 -- Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Monday signed a $5 million loan to the Peruvian government to help fund a $7.2 million project to strengthen state companies monitoring the Camisea natural gas project on the eastern slopes of the Andes, 500 km east of Lima.
Peru is to pay the remaining $2.2 million for that project from state funds.
Camisea partners, who so far have invested some $650 million on field development and pipelines, need an equivalent amount to complete the project, officials said. Camisea expects to obtain financing by the third quarter.
The IDB loan is part of $275 million that Camisea participants hope to obtain from development banks, including $75 million from IDB, $50 million from Andean Development Fund, and $150 million from Export-Import Bank of the US. Additional financing is expected through private banks.
Pluspetrol SA's Peru unit heads the consortium operating the upstream concession for the Camisea project. Another Argentine company, Techint SA, heads the group that operates the transportation concession, and Belgium's Tractebel SA subsidiary Gas Natural de Lima y Callao leads a third consortium for distribution of the gas in Lima (OGJ, Nov. 25, 2002, p. 22).
Tecgas and partner, Transportadora de Gas del Peru, said investment for transportation facilities would total $800 million including financing costs (OGJ Online, Dec. 5, 2002).
Meanwhile, Parker Drilling Co. completed drilling a second development gas well that it began Oct. 26 in the San Martin field and will move the rig to neighboring Cashiari field to drill two more development wells.
Partners expect the project to be completed on schedule, before August 2004.
