The Peruvian edition of La
Republica was fiercely critical of the Peruvian government’s management of
the state oil company Petroperú. La Republica accused Peruvian President
Ollanta Humala of breaking his campaign promise to strengthen Petroperú through
vertical integration. The article highlights the importance of having a strong
state oil company, but Petroperú has been fatally undermined by the legal
restriction prohibiting it from working oil fields and involvement in oil
refining.
Carlos Herrera Descalzi, the original Minister of Energy and
Mines in the Humala administration, told La Republica, “The idea was that
Petroperú should be able to operate in all of the activities of the oil sector,
which is no different from what occurs with other state companies in South
America and the world.” Ultimately, the problem is that the Peruvian government
has not yet decided whether it wants a strong state oil company. If Petroperú
continues on its current path to insolvency, it will likely end in
privatization.
In mining-related news, Peruvian economists have reluctantly
admitted
that the global mining boom is over. China’s accelerated growth rate has
steadily slowed down in search of a more sustainable model, and international
metal prices have similarly gone down.
This does not mean that Peru’s mining industry is in
jeopardy. Quite the contrary, as a recovery
in the country’s mining sector this year will help it weather the external
shocks of the strengthening U.S. dollar and the collapse in copper prices.
Of far greater concern is the tremendous environmental
problem posed by the country’s illegal miners. Mariana Castro, the Peruvian Vice
Minister for the Environment, told reporters that illegal miners dump 40.5 tons
of mercury every year into the Manu and Candamo rivers in the Madre de Dios
region.
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