Argentina has opened bidding for 38 offshore blocks. The main driver of interest is that Argentina’s vast offshore region is “practically the last frontier” for offshore exploration.
Latin America is leaping ahead into a renewables-led future: Chile is currently the leader of this pack, but Brazil has moved fast on capturing and exploiting the growth in renewable energy markets. In Africa, Egypt is one of the most attractive destinations in the renewables market, whilst Kenya is eager to be a regional clean energy leader and geo-thermal superpower. In Asia, the push for a giant leap towards renewable energy in Taiwan has come all the way from the top of the government, thanks to the President’s de-nuclearization policy.
Mexico and Brazil want a slice from a shrinking pie as international drillers limit their investments during a time of depressed oil prices. Mexico will hold its first-ever deepwater auction December 5th, offering up 10 areas in the Perdido area, near its maritime border with the U.S.; in the southern gulf’s Cuenca Salina; and a separate bid for the joint-venture with Pemex in Trion field. Brazil’s tender, set for 2017, will include “unitized” blocks that extend from already discovered pre-salt areas previously awarded to concession holders.
High regional gas prices in South America, most notably Argentina, are attracting US exports of domestically produced LNG, with more than 70% of landed cargoes arriving on the continent so far this year. South America has offered the most profitable destination for US exports compared with Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Regional gas markets, particularly in Argentina, are experiencing elevated prices. In an effort to stem the decline in gas production, the Argentine president cut domestic subsidies in December. His administration hopes that higher wellhead prices will revive production in older fields and stimulate new production, particularly in the Vaca Muerta Basin where large untapped volumes remain locked in shale and tight gas reservoirs. In March and April the first and second US cargoes to arrive in South America landed in Brazil, and since April, all eight US cargoes exported to the region have landed in the Southern Cone nations of Argentina and Chile.
