On Wednesday, the National Park Rangers in Peru (Sernanp) announced
that it had successfully forced illegal miners out of the country’s Amarakaeri
Communal Reserve, located in the illegal mining hotbed of Madre de Dios. The raids
against the illegal mining encampments were joint interdepartmental raids
involving, in addition to the Sernanp, the national police, the regional
government, and special prosecutors.
In oil-related news, Peruvian state oil company Petroperu said
on Tuesday that it was adjusting its contract with GeoPark Limited in order to
win government approval for the contract. Petroperu President Germán Veleasquez
explained to the press, “Oil is a risky activity, and we're transferring the
risk to GeoPark.” Reuters noted that the Peruvian oil company has been waiting
for government approval of the joint venture ever since the contract was
originally agreed to in 2014.
Petroperu will lower its share of control of block 64 in the
Peruvian Amazon from the agreed-to 25%. Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, who
originally campaigned
on promises of turning Petroperu into a major energy player, worries that
prematurely turning Petroperu back into an oil producer could endanger public
funds.
El
Comercio published an opinion piece on the terrible management of Petroperu, lending
additional weight to the argument that the company might not be ready to become
a major oil player. Petroperu had originally announced a loss of $94.2 million
for 2014, but after a detailed external audit, those net losses rose to $218
million. The oil company was caught flat-footed by falling oil prices, and has
not responded well to the new global market conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment