ENERGY ADVISOR a WEEKLY PUBLICATION of the DIALOGUE July 30, 2021
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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR ENERGY ADVISOR A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUE www.thedialogue.org July 30, 2021 BOARD OF ADVISORS FEATURED Q&A TOP NEWS Nigel Blackaby Global Head, RENEWABLES International Arbitration Group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer What Does Colombia TotalEnergies, Jeffrey Davidow Senior Counselor, Equinor Exit The Cohen Group Need to Become a Venezuela Venture Jonathan C. Hamilton France’s TotalEnergies and Partner, Norway-based Equinor have White & Case Hydrogen Exporter? decided to exit their Venezuela Raul Herrera joint venture, Petrocedeño. The Partner, Corporate & Securities Practice, deal will result in the recognition Arnold & Porter of a $1.38 billion capital loss for TotalEnergies. James R. Jones Chairman, Page 2 Monarch Global Strategies Jorge Kamine POWER SECTOR Partner, Corporate & Financial Services, Brazil’s Power Willkie Farr & Gallagher Grid Might Soon Craig A. Kelly Senior Director, Reach Capacity Americas Int’l Gov’t Relations, Colombian Energy Minister Diego Mesa said the government will publish a road map for hydro- Brazil’s national power grid oper- Exxon Mobil gen development in the coming months. // File Photo: Colombian Government. ator warned a drought might push Jorge León Energy Economist, the country’s electricity generation BP Colombian Minister Diego Mesa announced last month that to its limit by November. Page 5 Jeremy Martin the government in September is set to publish a road map Vice President, Energy & Sustainability, Institute of the Americas for the next 30 years, establishing the production, use and OIL & GAS Q export of hydrogen. Mesa said the country’s renewable water Larry Pascal Chairman, resources put it in an ideal position to produce green hydrogen, which López Obrador Americas Practice Group, Haynes & Boone is made from renewable energy resources. He also mentioned interest Downplays U.S. R. Kirk Sherr “from some companies in Germany” to develop green hydrogen in the Complaints Over President, Andean nation. How much potential does Colombia have to become a Clearview Strategy Group Energy Policy leading green hydrogen producer, and what benefits would that bring for Mark Thurber A bipartisan group of U.S. Partner, the country? What should the government’s road map for hydrogen pro- lawmakers said Mexico’s energy Hunton Andrews Kurth duction include? What specific regulations and incentives are necessary policy harms investors, but Alexandra Valderrama Mexican President Andrés Manuel Director, to jumpstart investment in Colombia’s budding green hydrogen industry, López Obrador said the legislators International Government Affairs, and which countries and companies could be potential partners in its represented a minority view. Chevron development? Page 3 Jose L. Valera Partner, Mayer Brown LLP Lisa Viscidi Natalia Gutiérrez, executive president of the Colombian As- Program Director, sociation of Electric Energy Generators (Acolgen): “Accord- Inter-American Dialogue ing to an IDB study, Colombia has tremendous potential in the Vanessa Wottrich Principal Analyst for Latin America, production of blue hydrogen in a first stage, but in the long Equinor A term, green hydrogen has more competitiveness, especially in the north Caribbean zone, where the price could drop up to $1.5/kilogram. However, those prices won’t be reached until 2050, while other countries—Chile, for example—plan to reach them by 2030. The study does not consider two opportunities: one is related to tax exemptions to promote hydrogen production in accordance with the recent Energy Transition Law. The IDB López Obrador // File Photo: Mexi- Continued on page 3 can Government. COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 1 LATIN AMERICA ENERGY ADVISOR July 30, 2021 OIL AND GAS NEWS investment environment and the lower interest NEWS BRIEFS of European companies in extra-heavy crude TotalEnergies, due to CO2 emissions,” Monaldi said. Argentina to Have 51 Percent Renewable Equinor Exit Joint ExxonMobil Makes Energy by 2040: AGEERA Venture in Venezuela ‘Significant’ Find Argentina’s association of electricity gen- erators, AGEERA, estimates that renewable Paris-based oil producer TotalEnergies and Off Coast of Guyana energy sources will make up 51 percent of the Norway’s Equinor have decided to exit their country’s energy matrix by 2040, EconoJournal joint venture in Venezuela, Bloomberg News Houston-based ExxonMobil announced reported last week. Meanwhile, the Argentine reported Thursday. Venezuelan state oil Wednesday that it had made a “significant Industrial Union (UIA) and the Association of company PDVSA will now own 100 percent new oil discovery” at its Whiptail well in the Large Users of Electric Energy, or AGUEERA, of the Petrocedeño venture, which produces Stabroek Block off the coast of Guyana. “This forecast that about 20 percent of cars and 50 extra-heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt in discovery increases our confidence in the percent of buses in 2040 will be electric. [Edi- Venezuela, transports it and transforms it into resource size and quality in the southeast area tor’s note: See related Q&A in the July 23 issue light crude oil. According to a statement from of the Stabroek Block and could form the basis of the Energy Advisor.] TotalEnergies, the transaction was carried out for a future development” in the area, said Mike for a “symbolic amount in exchange of a broad Cousins, senior vice president of exploration and new ventures at ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil Acciona Energía Begins Venezuelan state oil holds 45 percent interest in the Stabroek Block, with Hess holding 30 percent interest and a Operations at 922-MW company PDVSA will now unit of China’s CNOOC Ltd. holding 25 percent Solar Complex in Chile own 100 percent of the interest. [Editor’s note: See related Q&A in the Acciona Energía last week began operations at June 4 issue of the Energy Advisor.] Petrocedeño venture. the Malgarida solar complex in Chile’s Atacama desert, Energía Hoy reported. The complex, which consists of 580,000 solar panels, has indemnity in relation to the past and future Mexico’s Pemex an installed capacity of 922 megawatts. Total participation of TotalEnergies in Petrocedeño.” Swings to a Profit investment in the solar power plant was of 144 The deal will result in the recognition of an million euros, or about $170 million, according exceptional capital loss of $1.38 billion in the for Second Quarter to the report. The Malgarida complex is expect- financial statements of TotalEnergies. Arnaud ed to generate 654 gigawatt-hours per year, Breuillac, the president for exploration and Mexican state oil company Pemex on Wednes- or enough to supply around 280,000 homes in production at TotalEnergies, said the sale is day reported a net profit of 14.4 billion pesos Chile. in line with a strategy of “focusing new oil ($721 million) in the second quarter, Reuters investments on low carbon intensity projects, reported. Crude production rose 3.8 percent which does not correspond to extra-heavy oil as compared to the same period a year earlier, development projects in the Orinoco Belt.” with profits boosted by higher prices for oil. Curaçao’s RdK to Close Although Total, as the company was formerly However, financial debt at Pemex surpassed Utilities Subsidiary known, once was a major player in Venezuela, $115 billion at the end of the quarter, raising Curaçao’s state-owned RdK is set to close its last year less than 0.5 percent of the compa- alarms among investors over the sustainability utilities subsidiary CRU as of Sept. 30, the ny’s combined oil and gas production came of its debt burden. In an earnings call Wednes- company announced, Argus Media reported from the Andean country. Petrocedeño is one day, Pemex CEO Octavio Romero pushed back last week. RdK will also begin selling some of the largest projects in the Orinoco Belt and on a decision this week by Moody’s Investors 865,000 barrels of locally stored Venezuelan possibly the largest private investment project Service to downgrade Pemex’s ratings further crude, products and blendstock that it acquired in the history of Venezuela, Francisco Monaldi, into junk status. “It seems to us that it’s an from CRU in a June 11 auction. The moves director of the Latin American Energy Program action taken by the credit rating agency that are part of the company’s broader strategy to at Rice University, said in a tweet Thursday. lacks professionalism, ethics—in short, it’s consolidate its assets amid uncertainty over “The abandonment of the project reflects something shameful,” Romero said, Bloomberg revamping its Isla refinery, which used to be two very bad circumstances for Venezuela ... News reported. Pemex was also in headlines operated by Venezuelan state firm PDVSA. The lack of prospects for improvement in the Wednesday over a proposal from President COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 2 LATIN AMERICA ENERGY ADVISOR July 30, 2021 Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s administra- FEATURED Q&A / Continued from page 1 tion to set a maximum price for cooking and heating gas, a practice that hearkens back to said it would include it in its next version of renewable sources of energy. Both green and before major energy reforms nearly a decade the study—we will have to wait and see what blue hydrogen developments are defined in ago that introduced competition to Pemex’s Colombia’s real level of competitiveness is the new law, and the Colombian government monopoly role in the sector. López Obrador as a result. The second is that the country is adamant in finding opportunities to lead tried this week to invoke emergency powers to might be missing the chance to produce in on this front. The UPME, or National Unit for decree a six-month price cap, but the country’s hydroelectric plants, as these were excluded Mining and Energy Planification, has been federal economic competition commission has from the benefits provided by the Energy actively investigating how Colombia can pushed back, saying in a statement that current Transition Law to new renewables sources.