Peru’s Humala Plans to Renegotiate ‘Harmful’ Gas Contracts

[Judi Lynn]

Peru’s Humala Plans to Renegotiate ‘Harmful’ Gas Contracts
July 20, 2011, 4:08 PM EDT
By Alex Emery

July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Peruvian President-Elect Ollanta Humala plans to renegotiate natural-gas contracts deemed “harmful” to the country’s interests, his chief energy adviser said.

Humala may also force gas companies including Hunt Oil Co. to cut exports to Mexico if they can’t meet rising local demand from power plants and petrochemical projects led by Orica Ltd., adviser Carlos Herrera said today in a telephone interview.

“There were a lot of shady contracts that were negotiated under the table,” Herrera, a former energy minister under President Valentin Paniagua, said from Lima. “The government will allow exports only if the concessionaires make an effort to find more gas reserves.”

Energy and mining stocks plummeted after former army rebel Humala won the June 5 election on concern he would enact earlier pledges to rewrite oil and mining contracts and halt gas exports. The government will seek investment in gas pipelines and petrochemicals on the south coast, Humala said June 9.

More:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-07-20/peru-s-humala-plans-to-renegotiate-harmful-gas-contracts.html