MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

NZ oil company operating in Chilean Tierra del Fuego strikes gas

Production still is modest but exploration is promising

An affiliate of New Zealand’s Greymouth oil company, PetroMagallaes announced this week the discovery of hydrocarbons in two prospects in Chilean Tierra del Fuego. The prospects are in Caupolican blocks, belonging to what are known as the Springhill formation.

The first well, Josefina Oeste 1 effectively found natural gas and a second, Rio del Oro 1A has “shown strong positive signs”, according to Petro-Magallanes representative Alberto Harambour.

“They represent multiple productive zones in three different locations inside the block, which means sufficient hydrocarbons presence for commercial development in the area north of Caupolican”, said Harambour.

Apparently there is sufficient gas to be transported through the Gasco network and “we are only waiting for confirmation from Enap (Chile’s oil and gas government owned company) to connect and begin supplying”.

“This should be no inconvenient for the inter-connection to the main line since this would provide Enap with toll resources for transport and storage of gas that eventually could be pumped to the methanol complex, Methanex in Cabo Negro, a few kilometres from Punta Arenas, capital of Chile’s extreme south region of Magallanes.

The Chilean government has invited foreign oil companies to explore for hydrocarbons in the south of the country and Tierra del Fuego, where oil was originally found in the country over six decades ago. With soaring international oil prices and growing consumption at home Chile wants to cut dependency from overseas hydrocarbons.