By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 16 -- The Camisea consortium expects to invest as much as $500 million in Block 56 development, following the recent agreement on royalties for natural gas exports, according to Antonio Cueto, president of state oil agency Perupetro.
Block 56, adjacent the Camisea natural gas megacomplex in Peru's Amazon rainforest, holds reserves estimated at 3 tcf of gas from Pagoreni and Mipaya fields discovered by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group in the late 1990s.
Cueto said Camisea partners would invest $130 million to drill five wells on Block 56 by 2006 and another $370 million for a liquids separation plant.
The consortium, led by operator Pluspetrol SA of Argentina, includes Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co., South Korea's SK Corp., and Tecpetrol del Peru.
The consortium expects to sign an exploitation contract with Perupetro by July 15 following the recent agreement made on 38% royalties when the value of the gas is more than $4/million btu and 30% when the value is lower. Once the contract is signed, operator Pluspetrol will begin an environmental impact study on Block 56, to be followed by seismic studies and eventual drilling of additional wells. Gas from the block will be exported.
Field work on Block 56 is expected to begin early next year once a final agreement is received on the environmental impact study and all government approvals are in hand.
In the interim Peru LNG, led by Hunt Oil, is preparing to build a $2.25 billion liquefaction plant south of Lima to export LNG to Mexico and US by 2008.