Special Report - Natural Gas in Latin America (ISSN 17414474)

The energy and oil minister, Rafael Ramí­rez, said an auction for rights to develop the Mariscal Sucre (originilly known as Cristobal Colón)  offshore natural-gas fields fell short of expectations. In fact none of of the potential bidders (Mitsui & Co., Korea Gas Investments, StatoilHydro ASA, Galp Energia SGPS SA, OAO Gazprom and Eni SpA) actually bid, reportedly. This is a major setback to the industry. Currently only the Plataforma Deltana project, with its 7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) is going ahead, but gasmen say that progress here has slowed right down. The project was due to start producing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in 2014.