The government has announced its interest in measuring the commercial potential of any possible deposits while projecting a center for regional distribution for Liquefied Natural Gas.
Projections are that new permits will be granted for oil and gas exploration in the province of Darien and on the Caribbean coast.
Victor Urrutia, Secretary of Energy, told Prensa.com that "...
The oil company Perenco has completed construction of a plant capable of generating 12 MW using oil-based fuel and 2 MW using natural gas.
Using the power plant for the business operation, the company´s projection is to "... save nearly $6 million in the cost of oil production per year."
Prensalibre.com reports that "...this plant was constructed with high-tech equipment and consists of a 12 MW generator powered by fuel oil and combustible oil, waste from oil distillation, and it produces 2 MW from natural gas, a resource produced from the oil. "
The company City Petén has discovered a reservoir of high quality condensate, rich in butane and propane, in an oil well in Ocultún, Petén.
"Everything indicated that Guatemala only had heavy oil with high sulfur content. However, this discovery of natural gas is changing the energy mix in the medium term, " said Luis Ayala, director of Hydrocarbons of the Ministry of Energy and Mines.