OIL & GAS DEVELOPMENT ALERTS – Amazon Oil Auction
By Editorial Dept - Jun 28, 2013, 4:01 PM CDT
Peru Prepares for Amazon Oil Auction
Peru is preparing to auction off 26 oil concessions in the Amazon region after holding consultations with indigenous groups. The Peruvian government is aiming to attract more than $1 billion in investments, with the estimated exploration investment for each concession running between $40 million and $50 million. This will be the second auction this year, and after a three year hiatus. In May, Peru’s state-run Perupetro auctioned off nine offshore oil concessions. More than 20 companies have expressed interest in those nine concessions, which could bring in around $450 million in exploration investment alone. These licenses should be awarded in October. The additional 26 Amazon concessions were originally intended for the May auction, but were removed from the list due to the need for consultations with indigenous groups. The consultations will begin in July and take approximately 120 days. The government is hoping the auction will take place before the end of this year. It is also likely that the permitting time for oil exploration will be shortened for these concessions as the government seeks to reduce excessive red tape. We’re probably looking at one year for the approval of environmental permits, as opposed to the three years that it currently takes.
DNO May Production Target in Kurdistan
Oslo-based DNO International ASA (DNO) has made another discovery at the Tawke field and successfully…
Peru Prepares for Amazon Oil Auction
Peru is preparing to auction off 26 oil concessions in the Amazon region after holding consultations with indigenous groups. The Peruvian government is aiming to attract more than $1 billion in investments, with the estimated exploration investment for each concession running between $40 million and $50 million. This will be the second auction this year, and after a three year hiatus. In May, Peru’s state-run Perupetro auctioned off nine offshore oil concessions. More than 20 companies have expressed interest in those nine concessions, which could bring in around $450 million in exploration investment alone. These licenses should be awarded in October. The additional 26 Amazon concessions were originally intended for the May auction, but were removed from the list due to the need for consultations with indigenous groups. The consultations will begin in July and take approximately 120 days. The government is hoping the auction will take place before the end of this year. It is also likely that the permitting time for oil exploration will be shortened for these concessions as the government seeks to reduce excessive red tape. We’re probably looking at one year for the approval of environmental permits, as opposed to the three years that it currently takes.
DNO May Production Target in Kurdistan
Oslo-based DNO International ASA (DNO) has made another discovery at the Tawke field and successfully tested another well. The company may increase its production target as a result. DNO’s most recent find was at the deep Twake-17 well, which tested at 1,500 barrels a day. The find is more than 200 meters below the main reservoir on the field. This could push DNO’s Tawke reserves to the one billion barrel mark. The company also successfully tested its first horizontal well in Tawke, at the Tawke-20 well, which flowed at an average of 8,000 barrels a day. The next step will be to test the Tawke-23 well, and if that shapes up to be the same as Tawke-20 DNO will boost its target beyond the current 200,000 barrels per day by 2015. DNO’s shares rose 9.1% on the news, and have gained 46% over the past year. DNO International is the operator of Tawke with a 55% stake. Genel Energy Plc (GENL) has 25%, and the Kurdistan Regional Government the remaining 20%.
Promising Statoil Find in Newfoundland
In mid-June, Norway’s Statoil announced it was evaluating a new discovery of high-quality oil off the coast of Newfoundland, about 500 kilometers northeast of St. John’s. The Harpoon discovery is under some 1,100 meters of water. While we don’t know the extent of the Harpoon discovery just yet, what we like is that it is only 10 kilometers from the earlier Mizzen discovery, which is estimated to hold between 100 million and 200 million barrels of oil. Statoil owns a 65% stake in Harpoon (the rest is owned by Husky).
