On Thursday, the Peruvian Congress rejected
President Ollanta Humala’s request for a modification to the bill approved last
month by Congress giving Peruvian state oil company Petroperú a stake in the country’s
most productive oil field, Lot 192. Peru’s Congress overwhelmingly passed
the unchanged bill 74-10, and it will become law in a few days. Humala had
requested that Petroperú have to wait two years to operate Lot 192 to wait for
the expiration of the 2-year contract signed with Pacific Exploration.
Reuters noted that the defeat occurs in advance of national
elections and a time of severely weakened support for the Peruvian President.
High profile politicians have left Humala’s Nationalist Party of Peru in recent
weeks, and it has been difficult for the party to find a viable candidate for the
presidency. Congressman Manuel Dammert called
the law “a triumph for the country, in particular for the workers of Petroperú,
the towns linked to the oil industry like Loreto and Talara.”
In mining-related news, Chinese mining company MMG said that
the massive Las Bambas copper mining project is on track to start production in
the first quarter of 2016 despite recent violent protests and depressed copper
prices. MMG CEO Andrew Michelmore said in a press release that, “While we have
some challenges ahead yet, the Las Bambas team is to be congratulated for their
commitment to deliver this flagship project on schedule and within budget.”
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