Oil find is a game-changer for Paraguay [View all]
Oil find is a game-changer for Paraguay
President Franco of Paraguay visits U.S. to discuss oil exploration in poverty-stricken arid region of the South American country. Paraguay currently imports oil, mostly from Venezuela.
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
By Martin Barillas
Paraguayan President Federico Franco will visit Miami FL on December 5 where he will meet with oil company officials to discuss ongoing oil exploration in the arid Chaco region of the isolated South American country. Speaking to Spero News at a conference in Paraguay, Horacio Enciso, who writes for Economia Virtual – an online news site based in Asuncion – affirmed that the finding of significant petroleum deposits would be a game-changer for Paraguay. Currently, Paraguay imports oil that is refined at its government-controlled La Teja refinery. La Teja is being converted in order to refine heavier crude now being supplied by Venezuela, a country with which Paraguay’s current government is increasingly at odds. Since Paraguay does not currently produce petroleum, a significant find in Chaco is hoped to lead to energy independence and lower rates for oil.
According to a report by Paraguay’s official news agency, President Franco announced that by mid-2013 Paraguay will become an oil-producing country. Speaking at a forum last week in Asuncion, Franco told listeners “Paraguay is a country that is full of opportunities,” adding “oil has been found in the Pirity basin that is of the best quality and in great quantity.”
According to Economia Virtual, two American firms - Crescent Global Oil and Pirity Hidrocarburo plan to begin drilling exploratory wells this month. At the fórum, Franco gave assurances that “Paraguay will not only be a world leader in clean and renewable hydroelectric power, but also as of today, and in the next week, it will surely become in April, May or June of next year one of the world’s oil-producing countries.“
On December 4, President Franco was at Colonia Neuland – a town in Chaco – where he met with representatives of President Energy. At least 10 oil exploration trucks are being deployed in the region to make seismic tests. Later, exploratory wells of some 12,000 feet in depth would drilled at a cost between $5 to $10 million. Some estimates indicate that there could be as much as 150 million barrels of oil in the Pirity Basin. President Energy is an Anglo-American enterprise that also operates in Australia and the U.S. According ABC Color, a local daily, Peter Levine of President Energy refused to speculate on the actual amount of oil to be found.
http://www.speroforum.com/a/GUJJSQEAYQ45/73329-Oil-find-is-a-gamechanger-for-Paraguay
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