IS - Pluspetrol buys out partner SK at Peruvian gas field for $1B - October 2019South Korea’s largest refiner SK Innovation is trimming its global portfolio, announcing the sale of its non-operated 17.6% WI in blocks 88 and 56 in Peru’s Ucayali Basin for $1.05 billion to operator Argentina’s Pluspetrol. SK said it will use proceeds from the sale to diversify its portfolio into other energy sectors, including the battery and materials business, and expand its upstream and downstream footprint in the Asian and North American markets. The Pluspetrol-operated blocks...
Oct 15, 2019
IS - Argentina awards 18 licenses to 13 firms in offshore round - April 2019ExxonMobil, Equinor, Wintershall,
YPF, Tullow Oil and others were among
companies that won rights to explore in
Argentina’s April 16 licensing round, the
first in the country’s offshore acreage in
more than 20 years. Energy regulators
offered 38 blocks and awarded
18 licenses to 13 companies.
The exploration blocks on
offer were in the Austral, North Argentina
and Malvinas West Basins. The new areas
will broaden the focus of international
operators from the Vaca Muerta shale
and the...
Apr 25, 2019
Shell launches first full-scale development in Vaca MuertaShell has decided to move into the development phase of the Sierras Blancas, Cruz de Lorena and Coiron Amargo Sur Oeste blocks in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale. The first phase of development will consist of drilling and infrastructure expansion to increase production and processing capacity from the current 12,000 boe/d to over 40,000 boe/d in 2021. Full development of 70,000 boe/d will depend on economic conditions and performance by the mid-2020s.“Vaca Muerta makes up an important...
Jan 10, 2019
Petroperu considers interest in Peru’s largest oil blockIn Latin America, state-run PetroPeru is mulling the acquisition of a least a 40%
WI in the country’s biggest oil block once operator Canada-based Frontera Energy
Corp.’s short-term service contract expires in September 2019. Various media outlets
reported Petroperu President James Atkins as saying that Algeria’s
Sonatrach, Spain’s Cepsa and Argentina’s Pluspetrol have expressed
interest in partnering with
Petroperu on Block 192.
Net production from Block 192 in 1Q18
was 8,298 bbl/d...
Oct 03, 2018
GeoPark and ONGC Videsh form Latin America JVLatin American independent GeoPark and India-based ONGC Videsh formed a JV to acquire oil and gas assets across Latin America. The Bogota, Colombia-based partnership will search for a large-scale profitable and risk-balanced portfolio across the region. Santiago, Chile-based GeoPark has licenses to more than 6.0 million acres in South America, while ONGC Videsh currently has 40 projects in 19 countries in South America, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, Oceania and...
Apr 04, 2018
Geopark in strategic Latam partnership with ONGC VideshIndependent Latin American E&P GeoPark and ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of Indian NOC Oil and Natural Gas Corp., have formed a joint venture to buy oil and gas assets across Latin America. The partnership will be based in Bogota, Colombia, and will search for large-scale profitable and risk-balanced portfolio across the region. Santiago, Chile-based GeoPark has licenses to more than 6.0 million acres in South America. It is the largest operator in Colombia and the first...
Mar 16, 2018
Vista likes the view in the Vaca Muerta, puts together positionVista Oil & Gas, run by former YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio, was a Riverstone Holdings-backed SPAC that raised $650 million in a Mexican IPO last August. It is buying nearly all of Petrolera Entre Lomas (PELSA) in two acquisitions, giving it 27,500 boe/d of production and an extensive position in the Neuquen Basin from which it plans to build by drilling its first Vaca Muerta wells during H2 and starting production there in early 2019. Vista will spend $100 million this year as part of a program...
Mar 16, 2018
Vista acquires Argentina assets from Pampa and PluspetrolMexico’s first pure E&P listed company in the Mexican Stock Exchange, Vista Oil & Gas, is acquiring a fully operational oil and gas platform from Argentina’s Pampa Energia and Pluspetrol Resources Corp. The deal is expected to close in April, after which Vista will become one of Argentina’s top 10 oil producers.Most of the acquired assets are located in the Vaca Muerta shale play in the Neuquen Basin. The assets are producing 27,472 boe/d on ~137,000 acres, 54,000 of which are in...
Feb 21, 2018
Latin America remains strong M&A region as 2018 beginsThe largest deal as 2017 drew to a close was Statoil’s $2.3 billion acquisition of a 25% WI in the large Roncador field in the Campos Basin from Petrobras, nearly tripling the Norwegian major’s Brazilian production The second-largest deal in December was Sydney-based AWE’s $452.7 million acquisition of Australian peer and mining services provider Mineral Resources, beating out a previous $357.2 million offer from China Energy Reserve and Chemicals Group As the calendar turned to 2018,...
Jan 10, 2018
GeoPark buys Argentina blocks for $52 millionSouth America-focused GeoPark is paying US$52 million for an operated 100% WI in three blocks in Argentina’s Neuquen Basin from privately held Pluspetrol. The move comes after the discovery in August by GeoPark and partner Wintershall of a new oilfield after drilling a well on the CN-V block in Mendoza Province. “This acquisition is another important building block being added to the underlying foundation of GeoPark’s risk-balanced project portfolio, which has been the steady engine...
Jan 10, 2018
GeoPark hits oil in Argentina’s Mendoza provinceGeoPark’s Rio Grande Oeste-1 exploration well found oil in the Grupo Neuquen formation in Argentina’s Mendoza Province. The well was drilled and completed to 1,676 m TD and intersected 15 different potential reservoir sands. Logging data revealed the presence of hydrocarbons in upper, middle and lower zones and a testing program is underway. An initial test of four sands produced natural flow of 300 bo/d (28° API) with a 7% water cut.The company is studying the results and eyeing...
Aug 21, 2017
Q2 ends with deal trickle, not deal flowQ2 global M&A fell off as oil prices fell to seven-month lows, inventories continued to swell, and Russia said it has no interest in deepening its production cuts to support the market. The ambivalence expressed by ailing OPEC producers regarding their commitment to the group’s ~1.5 MMbbl/d production cut pledge also weighed on the market.International deal values fell 68% sequentially from $16.3 billion to $5.2 billion in Q2, though the deal count remained relatively steady at 70,...
Jul 12, 2017
Echo partners with PlusPetrol in Bolivia for Latin debutTaking the first step in its Latin American onshore gas strategy unveiled in April, London-listed Echo Energy signed a binding agreement to acquire an operated 80% WI in southern Bolivia’s Huayco block from privately held PlusPetrol. The Argentina-based producer will retain 20% WI in the block, which covers 18,500 acres in the Tarija Basin near key gas export pipeline infrastructure that would connect any discovery to markets in Brazil and Argentina.To earn its stake, Echo will pay 100%...
Jul 12, 2017
What the Analysts are Saying About - April 21, 2017YPF is looking at bidding ~$1billion for Shell’s downstream assets. The deal may be a bit of a stretch for YPF’s balance sheet without some offsetting disposals but would further increase its dominance of the downstream market. YPF is reportedly looking at bidding for Shell’s 630 fuel stations and the Dock Sud 113kbbl/d refinery but may run into anti-trust issues given it already controls 60% of the distribution market in Argentina. Another potential buyer is reported to be private Argentine...
Apr 25, 2017
ID - Latin America Briefs - April 17, 2019Argentina’s Pluspetrol bought a
stake in the Block 62 production sharing
contract offshore Suriname from Tullow
Oil for an undisclosed sum.
Tullow was awarded 100% WI
the block in October. Block 62
lies in water depth of 1,600-2,400 meters
and is adjacent to blocks 47 and 54, both
of which are also operated by Tullow. Chevron has agreed to buy two
fuel storage terminals in Colombia from
Peru-based PRIMAX for an undisclosed
price. One of the terminals
is in Buga, about 240...
Apr 17, 2019