World
Institutional
links
Welcome back on
26 -29 August,
ONS 2008
ONS 2008:
Press sees Norway
from toe to tip
Petroleumworld
Business
Partners:
Centre for
Global Energy
Studies
Blogspots
The Energy Guide
to Venezuela
By Venezuelan British
Chamber of Commer
  |
Petroperu says protests shut oil pipeline in Peru
LIMA
Petroleumworld.com, Sept 22, 2008Peru's state-run energy company said on Thursday it had stopped running its oil pipeline in northern Peru because of protests, forcing its main refinery to work off inventories.
The stoppage by Petroperu started on Tuesday after some 500 indigenous people, angry at recent laws passed to promote investment in the Amazon, began a protest. Gas and oil exploration has angered many indigenous and environmental rights groups.
Earlier this week, protesters upset by the same laws forced another energy company in the country to stop work on one of its lots in the Camisea natural gas field in southern Peru. That company, Pluspetrol, has said gas output in Peru has not been impacted.
Cesar Gutierrez, president of Petroperu, told a group of reporters: "As a precaution we are not operating."
Petroperu, which refines, transports and sells petroleum and gas, runs the Norperuano pipeline that moves crude oil from the Amazon jungle to the Talara oil refinery on the northern coast.
"We have reserves for 10 days still," Gutierrez said.
The pipeline pumps some 27,000 barrels of oil a day.
DIESEL IMPORTS UP
Separately, Gutierrez said Petroperu had doubled its imports of diesel to supply two electric generators recently hit by shortages.
In the last two weeks, Peru has experienced two blackouts as spiking demand, a shortage of rains and poor infrastructure have combined to crimp power supplies.
"This month, we have doubled our diesel imports from 6,000 barrels a day to 12,000 barrels a day ... to cover a decrease in (natural) gas," Gutierrez said.
Peru has huge natural gas reserves, but there is just one pipeline that moves it from the Camisea field to the capital Lima, and it is already operating at full capacity.
Fewer rains this year have forced Peru to rely less on hydroelectric power, and more on power generated by natural gas or other energy sources like diesel.
Petroperu's principle competitor in Peru is Spanish energy firm Repsol-YPF.
Story reporting by Teresa Cespedes, writing by Dana Ford; editing by Braden Reddall from Reuters
Reuters 15 09 08
Copyright© 2008 respective author or news agency. All rights reserved.
We welcome the use of Petroleumworld™ stories by anyone provided it mentions Petroleumworld.com as the source. Other stories you have to get authorization by its authors.
Your feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best Viewed with IE 5.01+
Windows NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels