MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Six companies present offers for potential natural gas deposits in Uruguay

Three years before commercial deposits are confirmed in the River Plate

Six foreign companies have presented offers to explore a natural gas deposit off Uruguay's Atlantic coast, announced Uruguay’s government owned oil company Ancap, Administración Nacional de Combustibles, Alcohol y Portland

The discovery of a potential deposit of natural gas and possibly oil off the costal resort of Punta del Este has sparked hopes of energy independence in Uruguay, which relies on imports to meet its fuel needs.

The companies interested are Brazil state-run energy company Petrobras, Australia's BHP Billiton, Portugal's Galp, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA and Argentina's Pluspetrol and YPF, an Argentine unit of Spain's Repsol.

The Uruguayan government has divided the exploration area into 11 blocks of between 4.000 and 8.000 square kilometres.

Companies had until April 30 to present letters of intent and other qualification documents. Ancap will qualify companies by May 15. Consultations with companies that have filed the appropriate paperwork will take place until that date as well, and the agency will follow up with other requested information through June 1.

Bids will be accepted from June 14 to July 1. Bids will be opened July 1. Companies can place one bid per block on offer. ANCAP will enter into one contract for each block.

Uruguay's Energy and Industry Minister Daniel Martinez has said it would take at least three years to find out whether the Uruguayan deposit was commercially viable and that any production would not start for at least eight years.

ANCAP buys a million barrels of crude roughly every 25 days to help Uruguay meet its domestic fuel needs. Most power is hydroelectric although a long drought has forced the country to invest heaving in alternative sources and imports from neighbouring Brazil.