First Gas Liquification plant in Latin America

Repsol Chairman Antonio Brufau, and Peruvian President, Alan Garcia, officially inaugurated the first gas liquefaction plant in South America, in Pampas Melchorita, 170 kilometres to the south of Lima (Peru).

The plant that is part of the Peru LNG project represents an investment of 3.8 billion dollars, the biggest investment ever made in one project in the history of Peru. Various local government authorities, political and business leaders, along with representatives of Repsol and its partners in the consortium that participated in this project, also attended the inauguration.

The consortium is made up of Repsol, with a 20% stake, Hunt Oil USA (50%), SK Energy South Korea (20%) and Marubeni Corporation Japan (10%).

The plant, with a nominal capacity of 4.4 million tons per year, will process 620 million cubic feet of gas per day. It has the two largest storage tanks in Peru (each storing 130,000 m3 of LNG) and a marine terminal that stretches more than a kilometre in length, able to receive tankers with a capacity of between 90,000 m3 and 173,000 m3.

The natural gas supply comes from the Camisea gas field, in which Repsol also has a 10% stake, and is fed through a 408-kilometre gas pipeline that is part of the Peru LNG project.

The project also gives Repsol exclusive rights to market the plant’s entire output, in accordance with the agreement signed with Peru LNG for a term of 18 years from the start of commercial operations, and in terms of volume, this will be the biggest LNG acquisition ever made by Repsol.

Additionally, Repsol has an LNG supply contract for the natural gas terminal at Puerto de Manzanillo, on the Mexican Pacific coast. This contract envisages the supply of LNG to the Mexican plant for a period of 15 years, with an estimated value of 15 billion dollars and with a volume of at least 67 bcm, equivalent to almost double the annual gas consumption in Spain.

During the construction of the plant, Repsol has developed diverse social and environmental projects in the area that include more than 20,000 families who have participated in programmes for improving agricultural skills and reinforcing small and medium-sized enterprises in that area.

The LNG business in Repsol

In the LNG area, Repsol has developed a policy that reinforces its competitive position in this business that is the key to its growth in the medium to long term. Repsol is one of the world’s leading marketers of this product.

In September 2009, Antonio Brufau inaugurated the Canaport LNG regasification plant in Canada, the first of its type to be built on the eastern coast of North America in thirty years and the first built in Canada. The plant, with a supply capacity of up to 1 Bcf of gas per day, is connected through the Brunswick gas pipeline with a network that supplies homes and industries in Canada and the northeast USA. It has enough capacity to supply 20% of the gas demand of New York and New England.

Repsol in Peru

For more than 50 years, Repsol has developed oil and gas exploration activities, and the production, distribution and marketing of oil products in Peru, and is one of the biggest companies in terms of turnover and one of the most important domestic taxpayers.

The company began its exploratory activities in 1995 and today holds stakes in eight blocks, and operates four, two of which are in the Marañón river basins and the remaining two in the Ucayali River. In August 1996, Repsol acquired the Pampilla Refinery, considered the most important refinery in Peru, and the object of constant investment plans for its redevelopment.

In terms of marketing products, Repsol is one of the industry’s main operators, with more than 230 service stations distributed throughout the country. It also manages direct sales, industrial sales of fuel for aviation and is leader in the Peruvian LPG market (liquefied petroleum gas).