Perenco Guatemala, the current operator of the pipeline, was the only bidder in the tender to obtain the concession for the operation and administration of the Hydrocarbons Transportation Stationary System.
The contract to operate the system includes a 425 kilometer pipeline, five pumping stations and the Piedras Negras export terminal, in Puerto Santo Tomás de Castilla, and the model of the contract to operate and manage it will be for a maximum of 25 years, with an option to extend.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines reports that the process to tender the operation of the pipeline has been approved by the Attorney General's Office.
Without giving further details on the terms of the contract for the operation of the pipeline, currently the responsibility of Perenco, the Minister of Energy and Mines, Luis Chang, stated that the bidding process received a favorable ruling and is progress is being made.
The Guatemalan government has finally approved the contracting model and promises to launch the bidding process within the next four months.
At the end of 2016 the Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that it was beginning to prepare, at that time, a plan to call a new tenderand grant a concession for the operation of the pipeline, currently in the hands of Perenco, to a new company. Due to delays in the process, in February last year the contract with Perenco was extended for 18 months, meaning that August would be the deadline for the new launch.
After an 11% reduction in the output between 2015 and 2016, last year production totaled 9,641 million barrels, 7% more than the figures in 2016.
Due to the age of the wells operated by the company Perenco, according to figures from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the national production of crude oil between 2010 and 2017 "...
After the expiration of the concession currently held by Perenco, a tender is to be launched for the operation of a pipeline connecting the Xan field in Peten with the oil terminal in Piedras Negras.
Elperiodico.com.gt reports that "...Vice President Jafeth Cabrera, after a meeting in Puerto Barrrios, Izabal, said the contract with Perenco which expires next year will be extended by no longer than six months in order to realise the tender."
Among the 40 companies that attended an information workshop on the topic were Perenco Guatemala Limited, Trayectoria Oil & Gas, Empresa Petrolera del Istmo, Rubiales Energy and Hupecol Operating Co.
No date has been set for the submission of bids in the tender for the award of a concession for exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the seven areas identified by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), and the publication of a Government Agreement about the tender is still pending, believed to be happening at the end of November.
Representatives from 45 companies attended a presentation about the oil areas that Guatemala will put out to tender.
Representatives from the companies Hupecol, Superior Energy Services, E & P Sucursal Colombia, Trayectoria del Gas, Petro Dorado, Ecopetrol, Pacific Rubiales, Geopetrocol and delegates from Perenco Guatemala and Perenco Colombia, participated in the presentation made by the Ministry of Energy and mines (MEM) held in the Colombian capital.
The change of government in Guatemala has delayed the ratification of a contract awarded to City Petén for oil drilling in an area with 140 million barrels.
On October 31st, 2011, at the end of the Colon administration, the Ministry of Energy and Mines signed a concession contract to exploit oil in the Yalcanix (PTN 1-2008) area with the Guatemalan company City Petén after a tender in which only two other companies, Perenco Guatemala and the aforementioned City Petén participated. The offer from Perenco was $11 million and City Petén’s was $30 million. Both companies have experience in oil exploration in the country.
Without disclosing the name of the company, the Ministry of Energy and Mines has announced that they have awarded a contract for exploration and exploitation of oil in Petén.
The Minister of that department, Alfredo Pokus, noted that they won't reveal the name of the contractor until the company itself has been notified.
Minister of Energy and Mines, Alfredo Pokus, said yesterday that it has awarded a contract for exploration and exploitation of oil Petén area 1-2008, but the name of the company will not be officially revealed until the parties have been notified", reported Prensalibre.com
The regulator has awarded the company City Petén a concession for oil exploration in the Guatemalan location.
City Petén has a $30 million investment plan for the first three years, compared with $11 million held by the other participating company Perenco.
"Although the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) has not yet made the Certifying Board’s decision’s public following the evaluation of bids submitted on May 30, Minister Alfredo Pokus reported through his press chief, Rene Rodriguez, that they are in the approval stage with the Cabinet of the Government", reported Elperiodico.com.gt
Executives from 15 international companies participated in the briefing of new bidding areas.
Tradex, Perenco, Tenseco Energy Corporation y Odebrecht are among the companies showing interest.
In case of Perenco, his vice president, Larry Bottomley, stressed the importance of expanding its operations in Guatemala, "so we are open to participate in the bidding," reported Prensalibre.com.
A new Guatemalan Constitutional Court motion has been filed against the expanded Perenco contract on the grounds of unconstitutionality.
The new motion, presented by the independent congressman Aníbal García, claims that the new contract is without merit since Perenco has been deemed “ineffective” by the Guatemalan Tax Revenue Authority (SAT) since June 2006.
The recent renewal of Perenco's oil extraction contract removed the company's exclusive right to carry out certain activities.
The new contract gives the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) the right to authorize and schedule "the use of perforation and intervention equipment, including any and all accesories required for its adequate functioning... with the aim of achieving national oil policy objectives".
The Guatemalan Environment, Culture and Sports, and Interior Ministers have suggested that the law was broken in extending the Perenco oil exploitation contract.
According to Luis Ferraté, Environment Minister, by expanding the scope of the project the extension violates laws regulating hydrocarbon exploitation, in which "only contract extensions are authorized, not modifications or expansions, as stated in the contract signed by the Minster for Energy and Mines (MEM) with Perenco".
The renewal of the concession to Perenco was in doubt and Germany had offered to create a compensation fund to substitute it.
The contract, number 2-85, represents almost 98% of Guatemalan oil production and is unpopular among environmentalists. The extraction operations take place within the area of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, world renowned for its unique qualities and biological diversity.