Seemingly irregular oil contracts have emerged as a factor in the ongoing political scandal [11] that last week brought down Peru's president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski. Following accusations from left-opposition congressmember Manuel Dammert [12] (Nuevo Perú [13]), state agency PeruPetro [14] admitted that hours before leaving office on March 21, Kuczynski had issued a Supreme Decree initiating the process of approving five offshore oil concessions with a private company—but without the involvement of PeruPetro in vetting the contracts, as required by law. Calling the deals "lobista," Dammert is demanding that new President Martín Vizcarra [11] declare the contracts void. The exploration contracts for blocs off the coast of Tmubes region are with Irish company Tullow Oil [15], They still must be approved by the ministries of Energy & Mines and Economy & Finance. (Gestión [16], March 29; TeleSur [17], March 26; Gestión [9], March 24)
Kuczynski as president had been an aggressive advocate of a greater role for private capital in Peru's oil industry. He had previously worked as an advisor to Hunt Oil [18], and also served on the board of Argentine-Italian conglomerate Techint [19]. As president, he advocated that Techint, which helped build the South Andean Gasduct [20] tha delivers gas from Hunt Oil's Camisea fields to the coast, be given a contract to operate the troubled North Peru Oilduct [21] as well. (GatoEncerrado [22], Feb. 14; TeleSur [23], June 2016)
Dammert had been an advocate for construction [24] of the South Andean Gasduct, but with greater public oversight, in light of the corruption surrounding infrastructure contacts in Peru. (Diario Uno [25], Jan. 3, 2017)
