The National Petroleum Company (ENAP) signed a partnership agreement with US oil company ConocoPhillips for exploration and production of unconventional gas in the Coiron Block in the Magallanes Region.
The agreement will be submitted to the Ministry of Energy for approval and includes a series of commitments to ConocoPhillips can reach up to 49% stake in the special petroleum operating contract (CEOP) Block Coiron, keeping ENAP as operating partner with 51 % ownership.
Through this agreement, ConocoPhillips is committed to participate in the development of exploration and exploitation, in successive phases, which if successful could reach an estimated between US $ 70 million to US $ 100 million for the next investment four years.
The partnership between the two companies is also part of the Strategic Plan that ENAP is implementing, by which seeks to optimize and make sustainable over time operations in the Magallanes Region.
In this regard, the General Manager of ENAP, Marcelo Tokman, said that "the partnership with a leading global company means incorporating resources, expertise and technology to our operations, allowing us to maximize the potential of unconventional hydrocarbons identified in the Magallanes region. "
In turn, Ryan Lance , CEO of ConocoPhillips, said "we are excited to bring our equipment, expertise and technology in this great project. We welcome the opportunity to work with ENAP in southern Chile ".
It is recalled that earlier this year the US Geological Survey (USGS), supported by geologists of ENAP released a report confirming the existence of a significant potential for unconventional gas in the Magallanes Region.
The USGS estimated a mean of 8.3 TCF of technically recoverable resources of tight gas. This figure represents twice the cumulative gas production in the basin for 70 years, reaching 4.2 TCF.
