By an OGJ correspondent
LIMA, May 5 -- Peru's ProInvestment confirmed that it will hold a public auction Tuesday to transfer the state's Electroperu contract to supply Camisea natural gas to private investors.
The gas, produced in the Camisea gas fields on the eastern slope of the Andes, is due to reach the Peruvian coast by pipeline, now under construction, by August 2004 (OGJ, Nov. 25, 2002, p. 20).
The Electroperu take-or-pay contract is for 70 MMcfd of gas, with the investor in the project to receive a minimum 50.4 MMcfd. The volume may be reduced if agreed to by both parties.
The investor in a first stage must complete a minimum 250 Mw simple-cycle, gas-fired power generating plant within 15 months if an existing plant is to be converted to gas or within 18 months if new plant is to be built. In a second stage of the project the investor must convert to a 125 Mw simple-cycle plant plus 187.5 Mw in combined cycle within 21 months.
The consortium operating Camisea fields is comprised of Argentine's Pluspetrol Corp. Sucursal del Peru, US firm Hunt Oil Co. of Peru LLC Sucursal del Peru, South Korea's SK Corp. Sucursal Peruana, and Hidrocarburos Andinos SAC.
The Electroperu take-or-pay contract was created in December 2000 to encourage investment in Camisea.
About 62% of the upstream and downstream project has been completed, according to Jaime Quijandria, the energy and mines minister.
Bidders qualified for the gas include Belgium's Tractebel SA through its local Enersur generator, Spain's Etevensa, and the US firms General Electric and PSEG Global.
Detailed contracts were printed Saturday in El Peruano, the legal gazette.