LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR VOL 10 2019
Vaca Muerta Business Chamber Created
BW Offshore To Buy Field From Petrobras, Chevron
Ecopetrol Allocates $500mn For Fracking
PDVSA Declares Emergency As Tankers Returning
ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS
Energy Analytics Institute’s weekly LatAmNRG prospector and select highlights from the week. Read the full stories online 24/7 at www.energy-analytics-institute.org
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ARGENTINA Vaca Muerta Business Chamber Created In Argentina (Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 6.Mar.2019) — Argentina now has its own Vaca Muerta business chamber, composed of CAPESPE, ACIPAN and CEIPA. The chamber represents 200 small-to-medium sized enterprise working in Argentina’s hydrocarbon sector, reported online media Río Negro.
Argentina’s IEASA Seeks 17 LNG Cargoes Energy Analytics Institute (EAI) is a Houston-based private organization focused on provided integrated services related to the Latin American and Caribbean upstream, downstream and midstream petroleum sectors. I. EAI’s primary focus related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sectors is to assist businesses establish and nurture relationships with other businesses or consumers by facilitating integrated business-tobusiness (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions. II. EAI also organizes timely forums, seminars or executive speaking engagements related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sector covering topics relevant to the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. III. EAI also provides unbiased breaking news, among project updates, related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sectors covering countries small and big from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean to Guyana, Bolivia and Peru in South America and bigger regional players including Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.
(Reuters, 5.Mar.2019) — Argentine energy company Integracion Energetica Argentina (IEASA), formerly known as ENARSA, is seeking 14 liquefied natural gas cargoes for delivery from May to September, three industry sources said on Tuesday. The cargoes are for delivery into the Escobar terminal in Argentina. The deadline for bids is March 12.
BRAZIL BW Offshore Approved To Buy Field From Petrobras, Chevron (Reuters, 6.Mar.2019) — Norway’s BW Offshore has won approval from Brazil’s antitrust watchdog Cade to buy the Maromba oilfield from Petrobras and Chevron, according to a statement in the official gazette on Wednesday. Petrobras has a 70 percent stake in the field, while Chevron has a 30 percent stake.
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ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS
Brazil Overtakes Russia As Top Supplier To China’s Independent Refineries
connected to an existing substation. The energy storage system will provide spinning reserve and has the capacity to provide other ancillary services to help with the integration of PV and wind projects.
(S&P Global Platts, 5.Mar.2019) — Surpassing Russia, Brazilian crude oil shipments for China’s independent refineries topped the list in February at 2.17 million mt, S&P Global Platts monthly survey showed Tuesday.
CHILE Chile Says Aspiring To Export Argentina Natural Gas As LNG (Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 7.Mar.2019) — Chile, which last year commenced importation of Argentine natural gas after an 11 year absence, aspires to assist its neighbor export the resources to far off destinations in the form of liquefied natural gas or LNG. “We understand that Argentina’s development intentions for the Vaca Muerta gas include exporting resources via pipelines as well as in the form of LNG to other markets outside the continent,” reported Argentina’s online media Río Negro, citing Chilean energy minister Susana Jiménez Schuster. “This undoubtedly opens up opportunities to think about the possibility of using facilities located in Chile,” she said.
COLOMBIA
NEC Expands Footprint In Chile With 2 MW Project In Arica
(Zacks Equity Research, 7.Mar.2019) — Ecopetrol S.A. EC proposes to invest $500 million toward exploring unconventional deposits over a three-year period. The spending is part of the $12-$15 billion apportioned by the company to invest during the 2019-2021 time frame.
(NEC, 5.Mar.2019) — In cooperation with NEC Chile, NEC Energy Solutions is expanding its presence in Chile with the commissioning of a 2 MW, 2 MWh lithium ion battery energy storage system for ENGIE Energía Chile. This project is the first energy storage system operated by the ENGIE group in the region.
Ecopetrol Allocates $500M Of Capital Outlay For Fracking
The company intends to begin with shale pilot programs in Columbia’s shale-rich Magadalena Valley basin that will include involvement of neighboring communities, as well as regulators, authorities and unions.
This marks the third project in Chile for NEC Energy Solutions since 2009, which has installed 32 MW of grid energy storage solutions in that country. This new system will be located in Arica, in Northern Chile and will be
ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS
Altaaqa Global Announces 20 MW Natgas BOOT Deal
2020. This presents a perfect opportunity for countries to incorporate gender-based analysis and engage women actively in efforts to mitigate and address climate change.
(Africa Review, 5.Mar.2019) — Altaaqa Global Energy Services has won a five-year contract to provide power to an industrial fertiliser manufacturing facility in Barrancabermeja, Colombia. The company will produce 20 MW of electricity using stranded natural gas assets over the period of the project, on build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) model.
COSTA RICA Prioritizing Women In Efforts To Combat Climate Change (Sigrid Kaag and Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, co-chairs of the NDC Partnership, 6.Mar.2019) — On March 8th, groups around the world will celebrate International Women’s Day, recognizing the achievements of women and calling for a more gender-balanced world. In many countries, women are driving transformation towards climate resilient development patterns. Increases in extreme weather conditions like droughts, storms, and floods are already altering economies, economic development, and patterns of human migration. These are likely to be among the biggest global threats humanity experiences this century. Everyone will be affected by these changes, but not equally. Women disproportionately suffer the impacts of disasters, severe weather events, and climate change because of cultural norms and the inequitable distribution of roles, resources, and power, especially in developing countries. These impacts are further deepened by an imbalance in power relations and decision making. Vulnerability to climate change is determined by a community or individual’s ability to adapt, and countries can further strengthen the role of women as key stakeholders when implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Right now, countries are revising and enhancing their NDCs in a process that continues through
ECUADOR Ecuador To Clean Up Texaco’s Decades-old Amazon Spill (UPI, 6.Mar.2019) — Ecuador will clean areas of its Amazon region that were polluted decades ago by Texaco in a move criticized by activists who fear too little will be done. After 26 years of legal actions in Ecuador, the United States, Canada and Europe that failed to result in any significant cleanup effort of areas affected by crude oil spills, Ecuadorean authorities will start to clean up polluted areas to try to stop the damage, El Telegrafo reported.
ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS
Indigenous Group Sues Ecuador For Earmarking Its Land For Oil Drilling (Mongabay, Kimberley Brown, 5.Mar.2019) — An indigenous community in Ecuador has filed a lawsuit against the government for failing to consult with it before putting its territory up for sale to the oil industry. The Waorani community announced the lawsuit Feb. 27 with a historic march through the city of Puyo, capital of the Amazon province of Pastaza. More than 250 Waorani leaders, elders and other indigenous supporters walked through the city for over two hours to the provincial Judicial Counsel, where they submitted documents in support of their case.
MEXICO Industry In Mexico Dealing With Natural Gas Shortage (JWN, Jim Bentein, 5.Mar.2019) — Mexico’s productivity and economic growth are at risk due to a reduced supply of natural gas for industry, a business leader warns. Juan Pablo Castañón, president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), said in an interview that gas shortages are going to force factories to shut down for periods and warned that electricity prices will go up.
Mexico Will Depend On U.S. Natural Gas Despite Energy Sovereignty Push (Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 5.Mar.2019) — Mexico will continue to need U.S. natural gas imports over the next decade, despite efforts by the new Mexican government to reduce dependence on American natural gas, data and analytics company GlobalData said in a report on Tuesday.
VENEZUELA Gas Scarcity Could Turn Crisis To Catastrophe (AP, Scott Smith and Sheyla Urdaneta, 6.Mar.2019) — Marin Mendez leaned a shoulder into his rusty Chevy Malibu, rolling it forward each time the line of cars inched closer to the pump. Waiting hours to fill up, he says, is the high cost he pays for gasoline that’s nearly free in socialist Venezuela.
PDVSA Declares Emergency As Tankers Returning -Document (Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 6.Mar.2019) — Plans by the German operator of a portion of the Venezuelan state oil company’s tanker fleet to return 10 vessels because of unpaid fees prompted a unit of state-run PDVSA on Tuesday to declare a maritime emergency, according to a document from the state-run firm and sources.
Russia To Defend Venezuelan Assets (Oilprice.com, Tsvetana Paraskova, 6.Mar.2019) — Nicolas Maduro’s staunchest international ally—Russia— reaffirmed last week its full support to the Socialist leader’s regime and his efforts to prevent what Moscow sees as interference in Venezuela’s domestic affairs. At the same time, Russia, which vowed to defend its oil assets in Venezuela as early as the political crisis began in January, sees risks to its investments in the Latin American country and pledges to react “in the toughest way” possible within international law if those investments are threatened, Russia’s Ambassador to Venezuela, Vladimir Zaemsky, told Russian governmentrun newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview published this week.
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