Lima, Jan. 30 (ANDINA).- The chief of Perupetro, Daniel Saba, informed today that the Anglo-Dutch Shell is about to come back to Peru when it concludes negotiations with BPZ Energy for the exploration and explotation of hidrocarburs in the north on Peru.
"The last information that I had is that the negotiations with BPZ are in their final stage, so it’s almost sure that Shell is coming back to Peru", Peru's state hydrocarbons promotion agency chief told Andina news agency.
He expects that the negotiations conclude satisfactorily because the return of Shell to Peru, nine years after he handed in the Camisea project to the Peruvian government, would be an important signal for other big foreign companies interested in investing in Peru, such as British Petroleum and Exxon Mobil.
The Camisea field was found in 1984 by Shell, but the company left the project in 1988 after not being able to sign an agreement with the Peruvian Government.
Shell got back to the project in 1994, but finally gave up developing it and handed it back to the Peruvian government in 1998.
Saba said that Shell’s return to Peru would encourage other companies to enter the Peruvian hydrocarbon market, because when a big company enters one country, the others start to consider it as a possible destination of investments.
Shell, one of the four biggest companies in the world-wide oil market, was interested in participating in Perupetro's auction of gas lots last year, but then it gave up the process.
BPZ Energy Peru Branch, is a company involved in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Peru, whose matrix it is BPZ Inc. Energy, a US company based in Houston (Texas), dedicated to the exploration and production of oil and natural gas.
(END) CSO/JPC/LVT