Six eye latest Uruguay offshore round

[Judi Lynn]

Six eye latest Uruguay offshore round

By Gareth Chetwynd

Six companies have registered to bid for offshore acreage in in Uruguay’s 2009 bid round, according to state-run oil company Ancap.

The interested companies were named as Austrialian giant BHP Billiton, Portugal-based Galp Energia, Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras, Spanish giant Repsol, and Argentine outfit YPF, Ancap said.

Uruguayan authorities will conclude qualification process this month, and will receive bids for exploration permits located in the Punta del Este, Pelotas and Oriental del Plata basins between 14 June and 1 July.

The ANCAP statement said the six companies were attracted by promising geology, political stability, a secure investment environment and "a bidding process with contract terms well adapted to the current context of the oil industry."

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