Peru Oil, Gas Tech Project Seeks To Lure Foreign Investors

The U.S. Trade & Development Agency (USTDA) has launched a technology assistance project that will enable the government of Peru to spark private-sector exploration of untapped oil and natural-gas reserves -– an initiative whose primary aim is to entice foreign investors. This attempted expansion of oil- and gas-exploration opportunities in Peru comes at a time when its neighbor to the southeast, Bolivia, stands practically on the brink of civil war over the control of such national hydrocarbon resources. Whereas thousands of Bolivarians have marched on La Paz demanding nationalization of its hydrocarbon sector, officials in Lima, with the help of the Bush Administration, are seeking a contrasting approach to resource management. In fact, Peru already has received nearly $1.3 million in USTDA technology grants to help it identify the “eight most promising on-shore blocks for hydrocarbon exploration and development,” according to solicitation documents that USTDA posted May 31 to the FedBizOpps procurement system (see links below).

Perupetro S.A., the Peruvian government agency responsible for promoting private investment in the hydrocarbons sector, last month received separate USTDA grants of $700,210 and $561,721 – courtesy of unwitting U.S. taxpayers. The first grant will be used to outsource the development of an electronic database system to integrate and interpret “existing on-shore geological, geophysical, and economic data,” according to the FedBizOpps notice. Peru will use the second grant to collect existing geochemical information and to compile the information in the new database.

Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on the projects. However, bid winners are permitted to use Peruvian subcontractors for up to 20 percent of the grant amounts.

The development of these information tools will “enable Perupetro S.A. and the private sector to identify unexplored areas that represent the most promising prospects for private sector investments,” the notice said.

Consolidating geochemical data into a “standardized and accessible database” will enable Perupetro to make “geochemical maps for the entire territory of Peru.” Selected U.S. contractors will accomplish these tasks by amassing geochemical, gravity, seismic, and magnetic data gleaned from the 18 “hydrocarbon-bearing sedimentary basins located in Peru...” the notice continued. “By defining the location of petroleum systems, the risk involved in identifying the most promising areas of commercial interest is reduced.”

USTDA said it will provide firms, upon request, with a detailed Request for Proposal, which will include other documents such as background Definitional Mission report.

Database Development (FedBizOpps notice #1)
http://www1.eps.gov/spg/TDA/TDA1/TDA1/Reference%2D Number%2D0551019A/SynopsisP.html

Geochemical Information Collection (FedBizOpps notice #2)
http://www1.eps.gov/spg/TDA/TDA1/TDA1/Reference%2D Number%2D0450018B/SynopsisP.html

Perupetro Announcement
“Peru: The Place to Carry Out New Business”
(“Perú un país para invertir)
http://mirror.perupetro.com.pe/noticiasdes-s.asp?i d=66