MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chile promoting oil and gas exploration in Magallanes Region

Chile's Ministry of Mines announced this week that the period to acquire tender bases for the Magallanes Region oil and gas exploration project has been extended for another thirty days until Thursday August 9.

The reason for the extension period is the "enormous international interest which the Magallanes hydrocarbons exploration and exploitation tender process has attracted", said a release from the Ministry in Santiago. In the framework of this extension the time to deliver technical information with the characteristics of each of the ten geographic blocks to be explored has also been moved a further month until August 9. The international tender includes ten geographic blocks (onshore and offshore) covering 32.350 square kilometers and in three of them (Coiron, Caupolican and Lenga) whoever is awarded the license must participate in the project development in association with Chile's government owned oil company ENAP. In the other seven blocks (Tranquilo, Russfin, Porvernir, Brotula, Isla Magdalena, Bahía Inútil and Otway) private bidders will have full control (100%) of exploration and exploitation rights. In the ten blocks the licensee will act as the operator. The companies which are awarded the blocks will act under a Special Operation Contract to be subscribed with the Chilean government. The contracts have a maximum time of 35 years and are divided basically into two phase, Exploration and Production according to what is established in the tender conditions. Last week the Chilean government organized in Buenos Aires a seminar for foreign investors to promote hydrocarbons exploration and production in Magallanes region. The seminar was sponsored by the Argentine Oil and Gas Institute, the Chilean Embassy in Buenos Aires and Chile's Mines Ministry.