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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Today's News Headlines
* Ex-Im Bank signs US$1bn deal with Ecopetrol; refinery deal could follow - Colombia
* Twenty one firms purchase rules for Salamanca SRU as of third meeting - Mexico
* Petrobras 2009 production rises 5.2% to 2.52Mboe/d - Brazil
* Pemex aiming for US$22.5bn capex from 2010-13 - Mexico
* PDVSA guarantees production despite power troubles - Venezuela
* Schwager biogas plant gets environmental green light - Chile
* New investments in algae-based biofuels to reach US$31.6mn - Chile
* Enap to drill 40 new wells at Riquelme-Manzano, Dorado-Puerto Sara - Chile
* OPEC's December Latin American output falls - Regional
* Natural gas demand down 3.7% in December - Brazil
* Officials inaugurate ethanol-fired thermo - Brazil
* IN BRIEF Mitsui eyes biofuels as part of diversification - Peru
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* Ex-Im Bank signs US$1bn deal with Ecopetrol; refinery deal could follow - Colombia
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has approved a US$1bn preliminary commitment to help finance the sale of goods and services from various US exporters to Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC), the bank said in a statement.
According to the terms of the agreement, Ecopetrol may request the financing to buy oil field-related equipment and services from US companies. The equipment can be used to develop oil and gas reserves, improve existing oil field production and upgrade refineries.
Ecopetrol is planning to increase production to 1Mboe/d by 2015.
"This preliminary commitment will help Ecopetrol expand its production base, contribute to Colombia's economic growth, and offer enormous opportunities to US exporters to provide goods and services to this important market," Ex-Im Bank chairman Fred Hochberg said.
"We encourage Ecopetrol to take advantage of this potential financing to buy high-quality US goods, services and technology," he said after meeting with Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.
Financial terms of the agreement have not yet been set, an Ecopetrol spokesperson said in an emailed statement to BNamericas.
"This preliminary agreement is the first step in obtaining final approval once Ecopetrol meets all of the usual requirements for this type of a transaction," the spokesperson said.
A similar agreement between Ecopetrol and Ex-Im Bank could be signed for Ecopetrol's project to expand the Cartagena refinery, the spokesperson added.
"The Cartagena and Berrancabermeja refinery modernization projects, valued at over US$6.5bn, are the largest and most complex industrial projects Colombia has undertaken in many decades. Ecopetrol will be able to process heavy crude and significantly increase its overall production capacity," Ecopetrol president Javier Gutiérrez said, according to the Ex-Im Bank statement.
"Ecopetrol is committed to excellent environmental best practices and is actively developing biofuels," he continued. "Ex-Im Bank's support will also enable Ecopetrol to pursue the use of clean technologies in the production of gasoline and diesel fuels and significantly upgrade and streamline production processes."
Ecopetrol will be able to submit proposed transactions to Ex-Im Bank's board for medium and long-term loans and guarantees during the next two years, Ex-Im Bank said.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Twenty one firms purchase rules for Salamanca SRU as of third meeting - Mexico
As of the third project meeting, 21 firms had purchased bidding rules for the international tender launched by Pemex Refinación, a subsidiary of Mexico's state oil company Pemex, for the EPC of an 80t/d sulfur recovery unit at its Salamanca refinery in Guanajuato state, according to federal procurement website Compranet.
Pemex Refinación previously contracted the basic engineering for a sulfur recovery plant with 160t/d capacity split between two trains. The company in April launched a tender for the plant, which was declared void.
The companies that purchased bidding rules were: Techint Proyectos e Ingeniería, Pepperl+Fuchs México, Abengoa México, Lipsa Industrial, Proyectos y Desarrollos de Infraestructura, Conip Contratistas, Linde Process Plants, Synergy Barukh, Emerson Process Management, Automation and Control Solutions, Inelectra North America, Constructora Atzco, Chemisa, Spisa Ingeniería y Construcción, Jantesa México, Saigut, Coimsur, Invensys Systems México, Stephen Sauder Bolan, Double V Holding, and Equipos y Servicios Vica.
The tender calls for the winning bidder to leave the preparation in place for another unit of the same capacity.
The company has scheduled a fourth project meeting for January 27. The works are scheduled to begin March 17 and run 540 days.
The tender number is 18576173-044-09.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Petrobras 2009 production rises 5.2% to 2.52Mboe/d - Brazil
Brazil's federal energy company Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) saw production increase 5.2% from 2008 levels to 2.52Mboe/d in 2009.
In a statement, Petrobras said oil and NGL production in Brazil averaged 1.97Mb/d in 2009, up 6.3% from the average seen in 2008.
December oil and NGL production averaged 1.98Mb/d, 3,800b/d less than levels seen in November.
"The main highlights of the year included increased production at platforms P-52 and P-54 in the Roncador field and the start of operations at the platforms P-53 (Marlim Leste), P-51 (Marlim Sul), FPSO Cidade de Niterói (Marlim Leste) and FPSO Cidade de São Vicente (Tupi EWT), which contributed to overcome the natural decline of mature fields," Petrobras said in the statement.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Pemex aiming for US$22.5bn capex from 2010-13 - Mexico
Mexico's state oil company Pemex aims for annual capex to average 285bn pesos (US$22.5bn) from 2010-13, according to a company filing with the US securities and exchange commission (SEC).
Company capex approved by the finance ministry for 2010 is 263bn pesos, up 38% compared to the prior year.
Pemex expects the figure to reach its maximum for the four-year period in 2011, at 321bn pesos.
It would then drop to 287bn pesos in 2012 and 268bn pesos in 2013.
Pemex's E&P subsidiary PEP will account for the vast majority of the total, at an average 81.8% throughout the period and a peak of 253bn pesos in 2011, the company said.
Pemex's refining subsidiary Pemex Refinación will make up an average 12.9% in the period and hit its peak of 41.8bn pesos in 2011.
Regarding Pemex's planned new refinery - the first to be built in the country in more than 30 years - the company said it expects to begin preparatory activities for construction "shortly."
Expected investment for the refinery, located in Tula, Hidalgo state, is US$9bn.
The tender process for procurement and construction of the new refinery would begin in 2011, with operations starting in 2015, BNamericas reported previously.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* PDVSA guarantees production despite power troubles - Venezuela
Venezuela's oil production has not been affected by the rolling blackouts implemented to reduce power demand in the country, the country's oil and energy minister and PDVSA president Rafael Ramírez said.
"The power cuts have not had any impact on production or on refining and upgrading," Ramírez said in a statement released by PDVSA.
"Most of the installations in the affected areas generate their own power," he added. "No activity has been stopped nor will any be stopped."
Venezuela began power rationing late last year because of low hydro levels that have pushed the country's power grid to the brink of collapse.
Hydro power accounts for about 70% of the country's generation mix, and the government has been accused of failing to make new investments in thermo capacity after it nationalized the sector in 2007.
Industrial, commercial and residential clients are all being hit with rationing and rolling blackouts across the country, although power rationing was suspended in Caracas earlier in month.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Schwager biogas plant gets environmental green light - Chile
Chile's Valparaíso regional environmental regulator Corema has approved an EIA for the construction of a biogas plant set for the Quilpué municipality of central region V, according to a document filed with securities regulator SVS.
Chilean company Schwager Biogas in October submitted the EIA to national environmental authority Conama.
Investments in the plant are set to hit US$14mn, according to the EIA.
Construction is slated to begin in early 2010 with operations due to start in 2011, BNamericas reported previously.
The biogas will be produced from a mixture of local plant species and organic waste from nearby chicken farms.
The environmental approval enables Schwager Biogas to register the plant as a CDM project, according to the SVS document.
The plant will have a production capacity of 4.7Mm3/y of biomethane, enough to generate 2.3MW of power. Natural gas distributor GasValpo will transport the gas to the nearby Ventanas mine owned by Chile's state copper company Codelco, according to the EIA.
Schwager Energy has a 60% stake in Schwager Biogas, while British investment fund Climate Change Capitol Carbon Fund II holds the balance.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* New investments in algae-based biofuels to reach US$31.6mn - Chile
Chile is set to invest US$31.6mn in three biofuel research projects that won a national contest launched in June 2009 to promote the development of biofuels produced from micro and macro algae.
Consortiums Desert Bionergy, AlgaFuels and Balfuels were the winners in the contest sponsored by Chile's national energy commission CNE and development agency Corfo's InnovaChile program, the CNE said in a statement.
A total of seven projects submitted proposals for the funds. The winners were judged by a panel of experts from the US, Australia and Portugal.
"We are convinced that Chile has immense potential in this area," energy minister Marcelo Tokman said at a ceremony held to announce the winning projects.
The consortiums will begin their research in March of this year, according to the statement.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Enap to drill 40 new wells at Riquelme-Manzano, Dorado-Puerto Sara - Chile
Chile's state oil company Enap has submitted an EIA to national environment authority Conama to drill 40 additional exploratory wells in the southern Magallanes region.
The wells would be drilled in blocks Riquelme-Manzano and Dorado-Puerto Sara, according to the document.
Enap has pegged the estimated cost of each well at US$800,000.
Drilling work and construction of access roads and drill platforms would run through December 2011, and production through December 2030.
The project would span 989km2 in Riquelme-Manzano and 851km2 in Dorado-Puerto Sara.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* OPEC's December Latin American output falls - Regional
Venezuela produced 2.27Mb/d of oil in December, a decrease of 24,000b/d from November, oil cartel OPEC said in its January oil market report.
Ecuador, OPEC's only other Latin American member, saw output fall 1,100b/d to 469,000b/d during the same period.
Ecuador's rig count increased by one in December to 10. Venezuela lost six rigs, closing out the month with 49.
Mexico, which is not a member of OPEC, saw its rig count decrease by five in the period to 122.
The rest of Latin America had 172 rigs in December, according to the report's section on non-OPEC countries.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Natural gas demand down 3.7% in December - Brazil
Natural gas demand in Brazil fell 3.7% in December from November to 36.5Mm3/d, according to the latest survey from distributors association Abegás.
December demand was down 6% from the same month last year.
Abegás said the overall drop was due to a reduction in consumption by thermo power plants, as heavy rains have boosted hydro capacity over the last several months.
Demand in the non-generation market, which includes residential, commercial and industrial clients, bucked the trend and grew 19% in December to 34.5Mm3/d compared to the same month last year.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* Officials inaugurate ethanol-fired thermo - Brazil
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and mines and energy minister Edison Lobão inaugurated the world's first ethanol-fired thermo plant on January 19.
The UTE Juiz de Fora plant is located in Brazil's southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
The plant had been operating with natural gas until late 2009, when one of its turbines was adapted to also run on ethanol, according to a government statement.
The thermo has an installed capacity of 87MW and was developed by a JV between Brazilian state-run energy group Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).
By Business News Americas staff reporters
* IN BRIEF Mitsui eyes biofuels as part of diversification - Peru
Japan's Mitsui is interested in investing in Peru's biofuels sector to diversify the group's presence in the country, according to local general manager Yoshinori Takase.
"Another project we have in mind, nothing concrete yet though, is entering the biofuels business, specifically ethanol as Peru has great production potential," state news agency Andina quoted Takase as saying.
By Business News Americas staff reporters
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In-deph interview
* Devaluation likely to benefit PDVSA in short term
José Luis Villanueva
Director
Fitch Ratings
Venezuela
http://www.bnamericas.com/interviews/oilandgas/Jose_Luis_Villanueva_,Fitch_Ratings,2/170693660
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Main companies covered in today's news
* Staatsolie Maatschappij Suriname N.V.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Staatsolie_Maatschappij_Suriname_N,V,-Staatsolie/170693660
* Associação Brasileira das Empresas Distribuidoras de Gás Canalizado
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Associacao_Brasileira_das_Empresas_Distribuidoras_de_Gas_Canalizado-Abegas/170693660
* GasValpo S.A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/GasValpo_S,A,-GasValpo/170693660
* Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Agencia_Nacional_do_Petroleo,_Gas_Natural_e_Biocombustiveis-ANP_,Brasil,/170693660
* Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo S. A.
http://www.bnamericas.com/company-profile/en/Refinadora_Costarricense_de_Petroleo_S,_A,-Recope/170693660
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