LatAmNRG Prospector: Week 11 2019

LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR VOL 11 2019

CERAWEEK IHS MARKIT HOUSTON

Argentina’s Energy Secretariat Inks Deal With The Int’l Energy Agency

Colombia Has Combined as Potential Of 20 Tcf

PDVSA Reports Fire At Three Petro San Félix Crude Storage Tanks

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

Energy Analytics Institute’s weekly LatAmNRG prospector and select highlights from the week. Read the full stories online 24/7 at www.energy-analytics-institute.org

ABOUT US

Energy Analytics Institute (EAI) is a Houston-based private organization focused on provided integrated services related to the Latin American and Caribbean upstream, downstream and midstream petroleum sectors.

I. EAI’s primary focus related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sectors is to assist businesses establish and nurture relationships with other businesses or consumers by facilitating integrated business-tobusiness (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) solutions.

II. EAI also organizes timely forums, seminars or executive speaking engagements related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sector covering topics relevant to the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors.

III. EAI also provides unbiased breaking news, among project updates, related to the Latin American and Caribbean petroleum sectors covering countries small and big from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean to Guyana, Bolivia and Peru in South America and bigger regional players including Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina. www.energy-analytics-institute.org

FINANCIAL AES Gener Offers To Purchase All Its Outstanding 8.375% Notes due 2073 (AES, 11.Mar.2019) — AES Gener S.A. launched an offer to purchase for cash (“Tender Offer”) any and all of its 8.375% Junior Subordinated Capital Notes due 2073 listed in the table below. Concurrently with the Tender Offer, the company is soliciting from the holders of the Notes a consent to a proposed amendment to the indenture governing the Notes, shortening the minimum notice period for any redemption of the Notes by the company to three days. This redemption includes optional, withholding tax event, substantial repurchase event, rating methodology event or tax deductibility event redemptions, all as described in the indenture governing the Notes. No tenders submitted after the expiration date will be valid. The Tender Offer and Solicitation will take place upon the terms and conditions described in AES Gener’s Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement, dated March 11, 2019.

Frontera Energy Replaces 103% Of Produced Reserves In 2018 (Frontera Energy, 14.Mar.2019) — Frontera Energy Corporation provided an operation and financial results update for 2018.

2018 Operational and Financial Results -- Frontera’s 2P Reserves as at December 31, 2018, were 154.9 MMboe after royalties, which was 0.4% higher than at the end of 2017.

-- The company achieved a 2P Reserves Replacement Ratio of 103% based on 2018 production after royalties of 23.6 MMboe.

-- The company’s 2P Reserve Life Index increased to 6.8 years in 2018 from 6.1 years in 2017.

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

-- Net present value of 2P reserves discounted at 10%, before taxes, was $2.2bn at the end of 2018, a decrease of 13% compared to 2017. The decrease reflects lower heavy oil price assumptions of $3.00/bbl over the first 10 years, partially offset by an increase of $0.80/bbl in light oil price assumptions. Heavy oil represents 62% of proved plus probable reserves, light oil 36% and natural gas 2%.

-- Net present value of proved plus probable reserves discounted at 10%, after taxes, was $1.9bn, a decrease of 1% compared to 2017.

-- 2018 production averaged 71,032 boe/d before royalties (63,187 boe/d after royalties) within the annual guidance range of 70,000 to 72,000 boe/d before royalties (63,000 to 65,000 boe/d after royalties).

The deal -- signed by Argentina’s Energy Secretariat Gustavo Lopetegui and IEA’s Executive Director Fatih Birol -- will see Argentina strengthen its energy statistics system as well as exchange information and experiences with the IEA. For its part, the IEA will add Argentina to its Technological Collaboration Programs, said the secretariat.

Argentina’s Energy Secretariat To Met With Chilean Counterpart

ARGENTINA

(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 15.Mar.2019) — Argentina’s Energy Secretariat Gustavo Lopetegui announced plans next week to meet with Chile’s President Sebastián Piñera, and Chile’s Energy Minister Susana Jiménez.

Argentina’s Energy Secretariat Inks Deal With The International Energy Agency

The aim of the meeting is to seek a mechanism that will allow Argentina to increase gas exports during the eight months of lower local demand in a move to replace Chile’s imports of LNG with Argentine natural gas, the Argentine agency announced Mar. 15, 2019 in an official statement.

Argentina Planning Gas Pipelines, Seeking Upstream Investors (Oil & Gas Journal, Paula Dittrick, 14.Mar.2019) — Argentina plans to build natural gas pipelines and hopes to attract more oil and gas investment for the Vaca Muerta shale play in the Neuquen basin, according to Argentina Energy Minister Gustavo Lopetegui.

Analysts estimate Vaca Muerta needs investments of $510bn/year to boost production compared with current investments of about $4.3bn/year.

(Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 13.Mar.2019) — Argentina’s Energy Secretariat signed a deal with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to create a joint work plan during 2019-2020, Argentina’s secretariat announced in an official statement.

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

BRAZIL Petrobras Announces Start Of Binding Phase Of Polo Rio Grande Do Norte (Petrobras, 11.Mar.2019) — Petrobras, following up on the Material Fact dated 07/28/2017 and Notice to the Market dated 10/4/2017, announces the beginning of the binding phase of the competitive process for the assignment of all exploration, development and production rights of Polo Grande do Norte, located in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

At this stage of the project, process letters are issued to qualified interested parties with detailed instructions about the divestment process, including guidelines to conduct due diligence and submit binding proposals.

This disclosure to the market complies with Petrobras' divestment methodology and is aligned with the provisions of the special procedure for the sale of the rights to exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, provided for in Decree 9.355/2018.

EIG Advances Development Of Azul Gas Port In Brazil (Energy Analytics Institute, Aaron Simonsky, 13.Mar.2019) — EIG Global Energy Partners says it will use a FRSU at its Azul Port, the second largest port in the world and the largest in the Americas, to import gas, Chairman and CEO R. Blair Thomas said March 13 during IHS Markit’s CERAWeek in Houston.

EIG will initially use imported gas to feed its 6,000megawatt gas-fired power facility, currently under construction, and eventually use pre-salt gas once additional infrastructure is in place to send more gas onshore.

Braskem Reports Record FCF Of R$7.1bn In 2018, Advancing 187% From 2017 (Braskem, 13.Mar.2019) — Braskem S.A. announced its results for 4Q18 and 2018.

BRAZIL HIGHLIGHTS: -- Demand for resins (PE, PP and PVC) came to 5.2 million tons, up 2.4% from 2017.

-- In 2018, Braskem’s crackers operated at an average capacity utilization rate of 91%, down 3 p.p. from 2017.

-- In this scenario, resin sales in Brazil came to 3.4 million tons, down 2% from 2017; and sales of key chemicals were 1% higher than 2017.

-- In 2018, the units in Brazil (including exports) posted an EBITDA of US$1,905 million (R$6,985 million), accounting for 61% of the company’s consolidated EBITDA from all segments.

COLOMBIA Colombia Has Combined Gas Potential Of 20 Tcf, Says Francisco Jose Lloreda Mera (Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 12.Mar.2019) — ACP Colombia President Francisco Jose Lloreda Mera said the country continues to move forward with efforts to attract investors to help develop its estimated gas potential of 20 Tcf, the official said March 12 during CERAWeek by IHS Markit in Houston.

Of the reserve potential, 50% are considered conventional while the other 50% are considered unconventional, he said. “We have gas near existing infrastructure, but what we need is political determination to develop those resources.”

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

In order to move forward with efforts to develop the potential, many decisions must be made in Colombia, said Lloreda, including discussions related to development of unconventionals, measures to provide investors with confidence to move forward with development of resources offshore as well as necessary infrastructure to develop the resources onshore.

(Frontera. 13.Mar.2019) — Frontera Energy Corporation and GeoPark Limited, as part of a consortium (Frontera 50%, GeoPark 50%), have been awarded production sharing contracts on two blocks in Ecuador's Intracampos Bid Round offered by the Ministerio de Energia y Recursos Naturales No Renovable, who will confirm the preliminary results by mid April 2019.

“I am very optimistic, but it requires some additional measures from the government,” he said.

The Perico and Espejo blocks are prospective, low-risk exploration blocks located in Sucumbíos Province in the north-eastern part of Ecuador, in the Oriente basin, and have a total area of approximately 13,504 ha (33,369 acres), of which Frontera holds 6,752 ha net (16,685 acres).

Despite Andean Sun, Renewables in Colombia Faces Cloudy Outlook (Reuters, Julia Symmes Cobb, Nelson Bocanegra, 14.Mar.2019) — The 36,000 solar panels gleam in the tropical heat of a valley outside the city of Yumbo in western Colombia, feeding dozens of megawatts to a nearby soft drinks factory as well as the national grid.

Gran Tierra Energy Inc. Announces New-Country Entry Into Ecuador

The solar farm, built on the site of a former coal plant, is one of two mounted by electricity generator Celsia - the first such commercial farms in the South American country.

ECUADOR Frontera Awarded Two Blocks in Ecuador’s Intracampos Bid Round

(Gran Tierra, 12.Mar.2019) — Gran Tierra Energy Inc. announced that, based on preliminary results, the company has made a new-country entry into Ecuador through the submission of winning bids for a total of three blocks, which were offered by the Ministerio de Energia y Recursos Naturales No Renovables (MERNR) in the Ronda Intracampos. The three blocks are located in the Oriente Basin and are approximately 140,000 acres in total area, creating a contiguous acreage position extending from Gran Tierra’s existing assets in the Putumayo Basin in Colombia. Final award of these blocks is contingent upon regulatory approvals and the execution of the Participation Contracts.

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

Key Highlights -- Establishes the company as one of the top landholders in the play trend which extends from the Putumayo Basin in Colombia through to the Oriente Basin in Ecuador; the Putumayo and Oriente Basins are the same geological basin, with different names due to the international border between Colombia and Ecuador -- Further strengthens and consolidates Gran Tierra’s position in what the company considers is a conventional oil resource fairway; Ecuador’s Napo Formation is equivalent to the Villeta Formation in the Putumayo Basin and has the same multi-zone potential in carbonate and sandstone reservoirs -- Gran Tierra has secured 100% working interest and operatorship in the Charapa Block, Chanangue Block and Iguana Block, which increases Gran Tierra's gross acreage position in the conventional resource plays in Ecuador and Colombia from 1.2mn to over 1.3mn gross acres -- Gran Tierra’s winning bids consisted of a work program bid by block, including the drilling of a total of 14 exploration wells over four years across the Blocks, and the company’s share of revenues which is tied to the Oriente Blend Oil Price and to production volumes; the Contracts are a sliding scale, with the Company take ranging from 87.5% at $30/bbl to 40% at $120/bbl; there is no consideration payable upon the signing of the Contracts and cash outlays begin with the commencement of the work program

GUYANA U.S. Diplomats Boost ExxonMobil In Guyana (The Progressive, Edward Hunt, 14.Mar.2019) — Since ExxonMobil announced the 2015 discovery of large oil reserves off the coast of Guyana, the small South American country has been buzzing with visions of a coming oil boom that U.S. diplomats say is going to bring tremendous wealth to the people of Guyana, about onethird of whom live below the poverty line.

Rowan Companies Inks Contract With Repsol For Rowan EXL II In Guyana (Rowan, 13.Mar.2019) — Rowan Companies plc and Repsol Exploracion Guyana, S.A. signed a contract for the EXL II, a high-specification Super 116E Jack-up rig, for work in Guyana. The contract is for one well beginning in the 3Q:19 with a duration of approximately 45 days. The EXL II is currently under contract with BP in Trinidad.

TRINIDAD BHP To Drill More Wells In Trinidad After Gas Finds (Reuters, 14.Mar.2019) — BHP Group Ltd has stepped up exploration drilling in deep water off Trinidad and Tobago hunting for gas which could supply the country’s Atlantic LNG plant in the 2020s, a senior executive said.

The company expects to complete drilling of three wells in block 14, located in its northern contract area, by the middle of this year, Niall McCormack, BHP’s vice president for exploration, said on the sidelines of the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

Trinidad Petroleum Secures New Bank Loans As Bond Repayment Looms (Loan Pricing Corporation, Aaron Weinman, 12.Mar.2019) — Trinidad Petroleum Holdings (TPH) is in advanced debt restructuring talks with banks and has secured new loans of up to $1.4bn based on oil reserves to ease a looming $850mn bond maturity in August, four people familiar with the matter said.

TPH, formerly known as Petrotrin, is tapping the loan market as it faces the uphill task of convincing investors of the merits of a new business plan and smaller workforce.

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS

VENEZUELA PDVSA Reports Fire At Three Petro San Félix Crude Storage Tanks

“The US is stealing PDVSA’s assets around the world, as has happened with CITGO, since the order is to destroy what belongs to the Venezuelan people,” the official commented in an official PDVSA statement.

“These are actions of hate,” he said.

Venezuela’s Oil Re-opening Unlikely Before 2024 (Argus, 14.Mar.2019) — Venezuela’s political opposition is proposing a comprehensive oil reform that would allow foreign investors to own up to 100% of oil assets from the wellhead to the retail level, but a historic re-opening of the Opec country´s oil industry is unlikely before 2024-25.

Borrowing a page from Mexico’s sweeping 2014 oil reform, proposed legislation would establish an independent hydrocarbons regulator that would conduct a Round Zero for state-owned PdV to select which upstream assets it would retain. The remaining assets would be designated for licensing rounds in which stateowned PdV would compete with other companies.

(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Mar.2019) — Venezuela’s Oil Minister and PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo announced a fire took place at three Petro San Félix storage tanks in what he described as a “terrorist action.”

The crude storage tanks are located in the Junín Block of the Hugo Chávez Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt in San Diego de Cabrutica, and in the southern part of Anzoátegui state, reported PDVSA in an official statement.

No further details were revealed by the company.

Venezuelan Oil Operations Halted, Blackout Persists (Argus, 10.Mar.2019) — Venezuela’s main oil export terminal and heavy crude processing complex in Jose are shut down as a historic blackout persists across much of the country today.

Crude exports were already backed up because of US oil sanctions before the record power outage darkened nearly all of Venezuela on 7 March. Around 14 MMbbls of crude are backed up in tankers anchored offshore.

Venezuela’s Quevedo Says U.S. Assaulting PDVSA (Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 14.Mar.2019) — Venezuela’s Oil Minister and PDVSA President Manuel Quevedo said that the state oil company was under assault by the U.S. government, which has implemented an illegally blockage.

ENERGY ANALYTICS INSTITUTE | LATAMNRG PROSPECTOR | HOUSTON • CARACAS