MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Repsol-YPF/Enarsa to explore for oil in South Atlantic

Spain's Repsol-YPF and ENARSA Argentina's newly created government owned oil corporation have contracted a seismic surveying vessel for three dimensional exploration in the South Atlantic offshore Colorado Basin.

A company spokesperson in Buenos Aires announced the vessel would be arriving in the second half of the year with an initial operational budget of 30 million US dollars. If the surveys are encouraging they will be followed by exploratory drilling at an estimated cost of 30 million US dollars per well.

Respsol-YPF recently announced that the corporation would be investing 500 million US dollars for hydrocarbons exploration in Argentina until 2009.

According to the exploratory arrangements other international companies will be participating in the venture with Repsol YPF holding 35%, Brazil's Petrobras 25%, Petrouruguay 5% and Enarsa 35%. The Argentine company will reimburse exploratory investments if the project is successful.

However Respsol-YPF CEO Antonio Brufau admitted last week that the company's exposure and future development will be "outside" Latinamerica given recent events.

"We need to disperse our assets; we were committed to markets which we believed were closer such as Latinamerica, but following the 2001 Argentine crisis we had to restructure, sell assets, redesign our budget structure", revealed Mr Brufau.

"In spite of the recent nationalization policy in Bolivia, Repsol-YPF assets in that country amount to 3% of the company".

Mr. Brufau said the Spanish company was naturally attracted to Latinamerica, where it has consolidated but "we now need to avoid having all eggs in the same basket".

In related news Uruguay announced the contracting of a bi-dimensional seismographic survey to determine whether there is natural gas in commercial volumes in the country's sea platform.

Daniel Martinez, president of Uruguay's government owned Oil Company Ancap estimated that the survey vessel should be operating by next November.

The survey will be coordinated with the Brazilian University of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. A second stage contemplates tri-dimensional surveying.

November operations will take advantage and advance on information collected last year by the Uruguayan Navy, Uruguay's Hydrographic Survey together with German and Russian experts.

Apparently a "bubble" of natural gas extending 700 square kilometres was detected 100 miles offshore Maldonado, 600 metres below the sea bed.

In the event of finding commercial deposits of natural gas, "we will most possibly invite Petrobras to operate and manage the resource given their experience and technological expertise", said Ancap president Martinez.

Ancap has also been invited to explore for hydrocarbons in the Orinoco basin of Venezuela, and to participate in joint ventures with Argentina in the South Atlantic.