The state agency PeruPetro has given the consortium that operates Peru's massive natural gas field at Camisea [2] has until March 30 to negotiate a deal on export royalties, with talks deadlocked. The controversy comes as presidential candidate Alejandro Toledo [3] has made a key platform plank of his demands that extractive industries contribute more of their revenue to support social development programs. (Reuters [4], Jan. 28; Bloomberg [5], Jan. 27)
Camisea consortium partners are planning a major new thrust of exploitation in the Amazon region. In December, Carlos del Solar, Peruvian general manager of Texas-based Hunt Oil, told El Comercio newspaper he expects natural gas exploration at Lot 76 [6] (Madre de Dios [7] region) to yield "another Camisea." PeruPetro has estimated Lot 76 at holding 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (Dow Jones [8], Dec. 27)
See our last posts on Peru [9] and the struggle for the Amazon [10].
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