Bridas Corporation, jointly owned by Argentine and Chinese interests, said Sunday it took control of Pan American Energy LLC, purchasing supermajor BP's 60 percent stake in the company, Argentina's second-largest producer of oil and gas.
The $7.06 billion cash deal, however, excludes Pan American Energy E&P Bolivia Limited, which has operating assets in Bolivia, Bridas Corporation said.
Bridas Corporation is jointly owned by Bridas Energy Holdings Limited, a unit of Argentina's Bulgheroni Group, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC.
"This agreement is a clear sign of the confidence that CNOOC and Bridas have in Argentina's energy industry and its growth potential," Bridas Corporation chairman Carlos Bulgheroni said.
"During the past decade, Pan American Energy achieved an excellent performance in the Argentine hydrocarbons exploration and production market. This agreement will allow us to maintain the level achieved and take on new challenges," the executive said.
The deal "will require filings and approval" from regulators, Bridas Corporation said.
Bridas Energy Holdings and CNOOC "will each have indirect 50 percent stakes in Pan American Energy (PAE)" after completion of the deal, Bridas Corporation said.
"Today's agreement further demonstrates both the high quality and attractiveness of the assets throughout BP's global portfolio and also the company's ability to meet our significant financial commitments arising from the Gulf of Mexico tragedy," BP CEO Bob Dudley said in a statement.
"Under the terms of the agreement, Bridas Corporation is required to pay BP a cash deposit of $3.53 billion with the balance of the proceeds due on completion of the sale. $1.41 billion of this deposit is due to be paid on December 3, 2010, with the balance of $2.12 billion to be paid by Bridas Corporation on December 28, 2010," BP said.
CNOOC bought a 50 percent stake in Bridas Energy Holdings Limited in March for $3.1 billion.
The Chinese oil giant and Bridas Energy Holdings each hold 50 percent interests in Bridas Corporation, a joint venture headquartered in the British Virgin Islands that focuses on oil and gas exploration.
Bridas Corporation, which is involved in exploration and production in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, had proven reserves of 636 million barrels of petroleum and average production of 92,000 barrels per day (bpd) at the end of 2009.
Source: EFE
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Billionaire Eskenazi Said to Boost Stake in YPF Unit as Soon as Next Month
Argentina’s billionaire Eskenazi family plans to boost its 15.4 percent stake in Repsol YPF SA’s local unit as early as next month to take advantage of falling borrowing costs, a person familiar with the situation said.
The Eskenazis’ Petersen Group will pay about $1.3 billion for an additional 10 percent stake in Buenos Aires-based oil producer YPF, said the person, who declined to be identified because talks are private. Petersen, which has an option until 2012 to increase its stake, will finance 40 percent with its own funds and the remainder through bank loans, the person said.
Borrowing costs have fallen to as low as 6 percent, from 10 percent a few months ago when Petersen was close to completing the deal, according to the person. YPF Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Eskenazi said in a May interview he was seeking to conclude the transaction by year’s end with Madrid-based Repsol.
YPF said this month it’s returning to the global bond market after 12 years with the sale of as much as $600 million of debt as the company aims to expand at home and overseas. Argentine companies including candy maker Arcor SA are selling the most debt abroad since 2007 after President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in June restructured $12.2 billion worth of debt remaining from a record $95 billion default in 2001.
Repsol owns 84 percent of YPF, Argentina’s biggest oil producer. The Petersen Group bought its YPF stake in 2007.
A YPF official representing Eskenazi in Buenos Aires, who cannot be named under company policy, declined to comment. Madrid-based Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix declined to comment.
Repsol climbed 12 cents to 19.50 euros at 5:30 p.m. in Madrid. The stock has gained 4.1 percent this year.
Seeking Investors
Repsol is seeking more Argentine investors for YPF either through a share sale or a private sale, Chief Executive Officer Antonio Brufau told reporters Oct. 6 in Buenos Aires. Repsol has said it was weighing a sale of YPF shares in New York and Sao Paulo and wants to cut its stake in YPF to 51 percent as the company’s Argentine oilfields mature. YPF represents about 35 percent of Repsol’s profit and more than 60 percent of output.
Crude production rose in the first nine months of this year, the first rise in the period since 2003. Prior to this year, YPF’s annual oil and gas output fell every year since 1999, except in 2003. The biggest decline was in 2002, when Argentina had its worst economic recession on record.
Repsol is seeking to develop the offshore Guara and Carioca fields in Brazil, located near Rio de Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s Tupi field, one of the largest discoveries in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.
Biggest in Argentina
YPF may spend $3 billion to $3.5 billion a year to boost operations in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Canada, Eskenazi said in the May interview. Overseas sales will account for 50 percent of total revenue in 10 years, up from 30 percent now, he said.
YPF, the biggest Argentina-based company by market value and the country’s largest employer, produces and processes about 50 percent of the South American nation’s oil and controls about as much of the domestic fuel market.
The Argentine company’s board approved the bond sale on Nov. 5 as part of a $1 billion debt program. The company didn’t provide more details on the offering. Repsol bought the company in 1999 during then-President Carlos Menem’s push to sell state assets.
Source: Bloomberg (Rodrigo Orihuela)
The Eskenazis’ Petersen Group will pay about $1.3 billion for an additional 10 percent stake in Buenos Aires-based oil producer YPF, said the person, who declined to be identified because talks are private. Petersen, which has an option until 2012 to increase its stake, will finance 40 percent with its own funds and the remainder through bank loans, the person said.
Borrowing costs have fallen to as low as 6 percent, from 10 percent a few months ago when Petersen was close to completing the deal, according to the person. YPF Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Eskenazi said in a May interview he was seeking to conclude the transaction by year’s end with Madrid-based Repsol.
YPF said this month it’s returning to the global bond market after 12 years with the sale of as much as $600 million of debt as the company aims to expand at home and overseas. Argentine companies including candy maker Arcor SA are selling the most debt abroad since 2007 after President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in June restructured $12.2 billion worth of debt remaining from a record $95 billion default in 2001.
Repsol owns 84 percent of YPF, Argentina’s biggest oil producer. The Petersen Group bought its YPF stake in 2007.
A YPF official representing Eskenazi in Buenos Aires, who cannot be named under company policy, declined to comment. Madrid-based Repsol spokesman Kristian Rix declined to comment.
Repsol climbed 12 cents to 19.50 euros at 5:30 p.m. in Madrid. The stock has gained 4.1 percent this year.
Seeking Investors
Repsol is seeking more Argentine investors for YPF either through a share sale or a private sale, Chief Executive Officer Antonio Brufau told reporters Oct. 6 in Buenos Aires. Repsol has said it was weighing a sale of YPF shares in New York and Sao Paulo and wants to cut its stake in YPF to 51 percent as the company’s Argentine oilfields mature. YPF represents about 35 percent of Repsol’s profit and more than 60 percent of output.
Crude production rose in the first nine months of this year, the first rise in the period since 2003. Prior to this year, YPF’s annual oil and gas output fell every year since 1999, except in 2003. The biggest decline was in 2002, when Argentina had its worst economic recession on record.
Repsol is seeking to develop the offshore Guara and Carioca fields in Brazil, located near Rio de Janeiro-based Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s Tupi field, one of the largest discoveries in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.
Biggest in Argentina
YPF may spend $3 billion to $3.5 billion a year to boost operations in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Canada, Eskenazi said in the May interview. Overseas sales will account for 50 percent of total revenue in 10 years, up from 30 percent now, he said.
YPF, the biggest Argentina-based company by market value and the country’s largest employer, produces and processes about 50 percent of the South American nation’s oil and controls about as much of the domestic fuel market.
The Argentine company’s board approved the bond sale on Nov. 5 as part of a $1 billion debt program. The company didn’t provide more details on the offering. Repsol bought the company in 1999 during then-President Carlos Menem’s push to sell state assets.
Source: Bloomberg (Rodrigo Orihuela)
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Here's an Uexpected Shale Gas Play
U.S. producer Apache said Friday it plans to drill a well by year-end to test shale gas potential in the La Calera field of the Neuquen Basin. The area already hosts conventional oil and gas production.
A few year's back Argentina would have been the last place on Earth for any kind of gas play. Let alone an experimental shale gas test.
Government price fixes in country have resulted in one of the lowest domestic gas prices in the Americas. Currently, gas sells for around $2.50 per MMBtu.
But the low price is curing the low price. With no incentive for gas producers to explore, Argentina's gas production has fallen off a cliff. To the point where the nation is having trouble honoring export contracts with neighboring countries like Chile.
In response, the government has implemented a two-tiered pricing system. Gas brought on-line from new fields can now be sold at prices above the domestic average. It's up to producers to negotiate the sales deals with prospective buyers.
The result being that producers have recently done deals as high as $5 per MMBtu. A relatively decent price. And one where shale gas could be economic (geology depending, of course).
This actually could be an ideal environment for shale.
If a producer like Apache can get a handle on the dynamics of a shale play, they can figure out what price they need to make it work. Cover costs, and build in an acceptable profit.
They can then negotiate to lock this price in, ensuring the continuing viability of the play.
The concept is sound. We'll see what the test results look like.
Source:Oilprice.com
Written by: Dave Forest
A few year's back Argentina would have been the last place on Earth for any kind of gas play. Let alone an experimental shale gas test.
Government price fixes in country have resulted in one of the lowest domestic gas prices in the Americas. Currently, gas sells for around $2.50 per MMBtu.
But the low price is curing the low price. With no incentive for gas producers to explore, Argentina's gas production has fallen off a cliff. To the point where the nation is having trouble honoring export contracts with neighboring countries like Chile.
In response, the government has implemented a two-tiered pricing system. Gas brought on-line from new fields can now be sold at prices above the domestic average. It's up to producers to negotiate the sales deals with prospective buyers.
The result being that producers have recently done deals as high as $5 per MMBtu. A relatively decent price. And one where shale gas could be economic (geology depending, of course).
This actually could be an ideal environment for shale.
If a producer like Apache can get a handle on the dynamics of a shale play, they can figure out what price they need to make it work. Cover costs, and build in an acceptable profit.
They can then negotiate to lock this price in, ensuring the continuing viability of the play.
The concept is sound. We'll see what the test results look like.
Source:Oilprice.com
Written by: Dave Forest
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Argentina to import gasoline for first time in 30 years
Argentine oil company YPF has said that it plans to import 50 million litres of gasoline as demand outstrips supply in the South American nation.
Argentina, an oil-producing country where fuel is subject to government price controls, has not imported gasoline in 30 years.
'Everyone is putting less fuel on the market, except YPF,' Corporate Communications Director Sergio Resumil said Tuesday, blaming his firm's domestic competitors for the shortage.
He said YPF, the Argentine subsidiary of Spain's Repsol, is turning to imports as an 'exceptional' measure and that the 50 million litres represents a little more than a month's supply.
Resumil said the other firms in the Argentine fuel sector - Brazil's Petrobras, Esso and Royal Dutch Shell - reduced both oil production and refining here by 200,000 cubic metres in January and February.
Moreover, he said, YPF has secured 56 percent of the market by undercutting its competitors on price, and he sought to reassure consumers that the company can meet Argentina's needs.
'There is gas and there is fuel, people just have to have a little patience,' Resumil said.
Source: EFE
Argentina, an oil-producing country where fuel is subject to government price controls, has not imported gasoline in 30 years.
'Everyone is putting less fuel on the market, except YPF,' Corporate Communications Director Sergio Resumil said Tuesday, blaming his firm's domestic competitors for the shortage.
He said YPF, the Argentine subsidiary of Spain's Repsol, is turning to imports as an 'exceptional' measure and that the 50 million litres represents a little more than a month's supply.
Resumil said the other firms in the Argentine fuel sector - Brazil's Petrobras, Esso and Royal Dutch Shell - reduced both oil production and refining here by 200,000 cubic metres in January and February.
Moreover, he said, YPF has secured 56 percent of the market by undercutting its competitors on price, and he sought to reassure consumers that the company can meet Argentina's needs.
'There is gas and there is fuel, people just have to have a little patience,' Resumil said.
Source: EFE
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Repsol sees no non-Argentine partner in YPF
Spain's Repsol does not intend to sell a stake in its YPF unit to any industrial partner from outside Argentina and sees no need to tap markets for cash, the oil group's chairman told Reuters Insider TV.
"We have the support of the Argentine authorities for an IPO, or for finding other partners to join us, provided that we .... create a normal capital structure for YPF which gives a more Argentine flavour to the company," Antonio Brufau said in an interview, recorded on Tuesday but released on Wednesday.
Repsol has been seeking to divest part of its 85 percent stake in the former Argentine national oil company and is reported to have rebuffed offers for all or part of the unit from investors including China's Sinopec and CNOOC.
"No foreign (non-Argentine) industrial investors," the chairman said.
Whether Repsol suceeds in divesting part of its YPF stake or not, Brufau sees no need for the company to tap markets for cash despite the demands set to be put on its development spending by major discoveries in Brazil and elsewhere and despite ongoing pressure on refining margins and gas prices.
"We are in a very comfortable situation, obviously if we have to develop Brazil ... the money that will be needed there is going to be significant," he said.
Brufau said he oil prices should remain at at least $70-80 if the emerging markets of China and India keep growing.
"When we had oil at 130, there was a lot of speculation, but when we have the oil at 78, it's more based on fundamentals," the chairman said.
"If China and India continue growing ... we will remain at least at the level we have today: in the 70s or 80s," Brufau told Reuters.
Source: Reuters
Reporting by Jonathan Gleave
"We have the support of the Argentine authorities for an IPO, or for finding other partners to join us, provided that we .... create a normal capital structure for YPF which gives a more Argentine flavour to the company," Antonio Brufau said in an interview, recorded on Tuesday but released on Wednesday.
Repsol has been seeking to divest part of its 85 percent stake in the former Argentine national oil company and is reported to have rebuffed offers for all or part of the unit from investors including China's Sinopec and CNOOC.
"No foreign (non-Argentine) industrial investors," the chairman said.
Whether Repsol suceeds in divesting part of its YPF stake or not, Brufau sees no need for the company to tap markets for cash despite the demands set to be put on its development spending by major discoveries in Brazil and elsewhere and despite ongoing pressure on refining margins and gas prices.
"We are in a very comfortable situation, obviously if we have to develop Brazil ... the money that will be needed there is going to be significant," he said.
Brufau said he oil prices should remain at at least $70-80 if the emerging markets of China and India keep growing.
"When we had oil at 130, there was a lot of speculation, but when we have the oil at 78, it's more based on fundamentals," the chairman said.
"If China and India continue growing ... we will remain at least at the level we have today: in the 70s or 80s," Brufau told Reuters.
Source: Reuters
Reporting by Jonathan Gleave
Friday, January 08, 2010
New Bolivia-Argentina Natural Gas Agreement The Re-Nationalization Conundrum
Summary
Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America after Venezuela, which makes it the major exporter of natural gas in the region. Bolivia’s economy is largely driven by export of natural gas to its neighboring countries. Argentina and Brazil are the major export markets for its natural gas. These exports are bound by supply agreements, the first of which was signed between Bolivia and Argentina in 1922. The 441.0 km Yabog Pipeline became operational in 1972 with an initial annual capacity of 68.6 Bcf to increase the trade of natural gas between Bolivia and Argentina. Brazil imports natural gas from Bolivia through the 3,159.0 Km Bolivia- Brazil Pipeline. The Bolivian section of 557.0 km pipeline is operated by Gas TransBoliviano S.A and 2,602.0 km Brazilian section is operated by Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brazil S.A.
Scope
• GlobalData viewpoints cover the latest events or important trends in the global oil and gas industry and provide our in-depth analysis of issues and challenges. Viewpoints offer expert opinions and GlobalData’s views of various developments that have been taking place in the oil and gas industry across the world.
Reasons to Buy
• Develop business strategies with the help of specific insights from GlobalData on the key events happening in the oil and gas industry.
• Gain a strong understanding of the energy market and analyze the major trends in the global oil and gas industry today
• Identify opportunities and challenges with the help of our analysis of the latest news and deals in the oil and gas industry
• Increase future revenue and profitability with the help of information on latest operational, financial, and regulatory events.
Source: www.companiesandmarkets.com
Author: Mike King
Bolivia has the second largest natural gas reserves in South America after Venezuela, which makes it the major exporter of natural gas in the region. Bolivia’s economy is largely driven by export of natural gas to its neighboring countries. Argentina and Brazil are the major export markets for its natural gas. These exports are bound by supply agreements, the first of which was signed between Bolivia and Argentina in 1922. The 441.0 km Yabog Pipeline became operational in 1972 with an initial annual capacity of 68.6 Bcf to increase the trade of natural gas between Bolivia and Argentina. Brazil imports natural gas from Bolivia through the 3,159.0 Km Bolivia- Brazil Pipeline. The Bolivian section of 557.0 km pipeline is operated by Gas TransBoliviano S.A and 2,602.0 km Brazilian section is operated by Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brazil S.A.
Scope
• GlobalData viewpoints cover the latest events or important trends in the global oil and gas industry and provide our in-depth analysis of issues and challenges. Viewpoints offer expert opinions and GlobalData’s views of various developments that have been taking place in the oil and gas industry across the world.
Reasons to Buy
• Develop business strategies with the help of specific insights from GlobalData on the key events happening in the oil and gas industry.
• Gain a strong understanding of the energy market and analyze the major trends in the global oil and gas industry today
• Identify opportunities and challenges with the help of our analysis of the latest news and deals in the oil and gas industry
• Increase future revenue and profitability with the help of information on latest operational, financial, and regulatory events.
Source: www.companiesandmarkets.com
Author: Mike King
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