LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR ENERGY ADVISOR A WEEKLY PUBLICATION OF THE DIALOGUE www.thedialogue.org June 25, 2021 BOARD OF ADVISORS FEATURED Q&A TOP NEWS Nigel Blackaby Global Head, International Arbitration Group, POWER SECTOR Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Will AMLO’s Energy Blackout Leaves Jeffrey Davidow Senior Counselor, 337,000 Without The Cohen Group Reforms Pass in Electricity in Jonathan C. Hamilton Partner, Puerto Rico White & Case the New Congress? A sudden power outage left more Raul Herrera than 337,000 customers without Partner, electricity across the U.S. territory Corporate & Securities Practice, just days after another massive Arnold & Porter blackout. James R. Jones Page 3 Chairman, Monarch Global Strategies Jorge Kamine OIL & GAS Partner, Corporate & Financial Services, BR Distribuidora Willkie Farr & Gallagher Launches Offering Craig A. Kelly Senior Director, as Petrobras Americas Int’l Gov’t Relations, Mexico’s ruling Morena party and its allies were unable to retain a supermajority in the Cham- Sells Stake Exxon Mobil ber of Deputies in the June midterm elections. // File Photo: Mexican Government. BR Distribuidora launched a share Jorge León Energy Economist, offering in which Brazilian state BP Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said oil company Petrobras will sell a stake in the fuel distribution firm. Jeremy Martin this month that he is still considering submitting a bill to Vice President, Energy & Sustainability, Page 2 Institute of the Americas Congress that proposes constitutional changes in the power Larry Pascal Q sector to favor state utility CFE. López Obrador’s remarks OIL & GAS Chairman, came after the ruling Morena party and its allies recently lost their Americas Practice Group, Opposition in Haynes & Boone supermajority in the Chamber of Deputies. They now lack the two-thirds Jamaica Calls R. Kirk Sherr majority needed to make changes to the constitution, but López Obrador President, for Tax Cuts on said he could align with the opposition to pass such reforms. What are Clearview Strategy Group Oil Products Mark Thurber the prospects for a continued push to pass a major overhaul of Mexico’s Partner, power sector given the new composition of the Chamber of Deputies? Jamaican opposition lawmaker Hunton Andrews Kurth Phillip Paulwell called on the How likely is the opposition to work with López Obrador on his energy Alexandra Valderrama government to remove its tax on Director, agenda? Will the country’s midterm election results—with Morena losing petroleum products in order to International Government Affairs, seats but still holding onto control in the lower chamber—embolden bring relief to consumers. Chevron Page 2 Jose L. Valera López Obrador and his priority of strengthening the role of the state in Partner, the energy sector? Mayer Brown LLP Lisa Viscidi Program Director, Carlos de María y Campos, partner at Galicia Abogados: Inter-American Dialogue “For the past two years, AMLO has tried to change the Vanessa Wottrich Principal Analyst for Latin America, energy sector’s rules. He canceled E&P rounds, changed Equinor A the power dispatch order and reformed the electricity and hydrocarbons laws. These measures have contravened the constitution; courts, including the Supreme Court, have suspended or annulled them. To reinstate the inefficient and ‘petrolized’ state monopoly, AMLO needs to amend the constitution. After having lost a majority in Congress, his chances are slim. AMLO will have to negotiate with an opposition he has Continued on page 3 Paulwell // File Photo: Jamaican Government. COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 1 LATIN AMERICA ENERGY ADVISOR June 25, 2021 OIL AND GAS NEWS has reached an all-time high and will cut into NEWS BRIEFS economic growth. “The poor and our middle TotalEnergies, QP class can’t bear any more. Many are at the Men Posing as Security breaking point,” Paulwell said in a statement. Guards Attack Haiti Win Exploration A member of the People’s National Party, Paulwell previously served as Jamaica’s energy Power Plant, Employees Blocks in Suriname minister. Officials at Haiti’s power company said last week that its employees and some of its infra- A consortium of TotalEnergies and Qatar’s structure were attacked by a group of men who state-owned oil company, Qatar Petroleum, BR Distribuidora pretended to be security guards, the Associ- have won two offshore exploration blocks in Launches Offering ated Press reported. L’Électricité d’Haïti said Suriname following the country’s latest bidding the men and what it called complicit security round, launched in November, Argus Media for Petrobras Stake guards occupied a power plant near the Péligre reported Sunday. TotalEnergies, formerly Dam in the country’s central region, adding that known as Total, leads the consortium with a 40 Brazilian fuel retailer BR Distribuidora last the men had previously been hired illegally and percent stake. Qatar Petroleum, or QP, has a 20 week launched a share offering in which state later dismissed, but they continued to return to percent stake, while Suriname’s state-owned oil firm Petrobras will sell an 11.5 billion reais the plant. Michel Présumé, the firm’s director ($2.3 billion) stake in the company, Reuters general, said that authorities had not removed reported, citing a securities filing. The offering or arrested the men. is set to be priced on June 30. The company TotalEnergies leads said several banks—Bank of America, Citigroup the consortium with a Global Markets, Goldman Sachs, Itaú, JPMor- Equinor Delays Plans to 40 percent stake. gan Chase as well as Morgan Stanley and XP Investimentos—were managing the offering. Restart Production at Petrobras said it had informed BR Distribui- Peregrino Field in Brazil dora earlier this month of its plans to sell its Norwegian energy company Equinor has oil firm Staatsolie will hold the remaining 40 remaining 37.5 percent stake in the distribution delayed its plans to restart production and percent interest, according to the report. The firm, according to the report. “This operation complete a second development phase at the group won the rights to explore shallow water is in line with the optimization of the portfolio Peregrino oil field off Brazil’s shore until the blocks near Suriname’s border with Guyana. and the improvement of the company’s capital first half of next year, Argus Media reported This marks TotalEnergies’ second acreage in allocation, aiming at generating value for its last week. A riser problem in April of last year the South American nation, after it bought a shareholders,” Petrobras said in that filing. knocked out the field, which produced about 50 percent stake in the prolific Block 58 from The move is part of the company’s broader 60,000 barrels per day of crude, according to U.S.-based Apache in January. Apache had divestment strategy, which is aimed at raising regulatory data. Equinor had planned to resume made a discovery of light oil and condensate in money and reducing its debt burden. As part operations in the field in the first half this year, the block the same month. The consortium has of the plan, Petrobras is looking to sell eight but pandemic-related issues have repeatedly announced three other discoveries since then, refineries by year-end, according to a deadline postponed the restart date. Argus Media reported. it had set before the pandemic. The company in recent weeks has made progress toward the Jamaican Opposition first sale of the refineries after antitrust watch- dog Cade approved the company’s $1.65 billion Argentine Government Calls for Tax Cut on deal with Abu Dhabi’s state-owned investment Allows IEASA to Explore fund, Mubadala, Argus Media reported. The Near Falkland Islands Petroleum Products sale is still subject to a review period and other conditions included in the agreement. Talks State energy firm Integración Energética de Jamaican opposition lawmaker Phillip Paulwell between Petrobras and Mubadala started Argentina, or IEASA, has received a permit to on Tuesday called on the government to last July. However, the length of the negoti- explore for oil and gas off the coast of South remove its tax on petroleum products in order ating process has sparked concerns that the American nation’s Patagonia region, near the to bring relief to consumers due to rising prices company will be unable to meet the deadline of Falkland Islands, Cronista reported last week. at pumps, the Jamaica Gleaner reported. Dec. 31 it had set for the eight refinery sales, The area is near but outside the territory under Paulwell said the price of petroleum products according to the report. dispute with the United Kingdom, according to the report. COPYRIGHT © 2021, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE PAGE 2 LATIN AMERICA ENERGY ADVISOR June 25, 2021 POWER SECTOR NEWS FEATURED Q&A / Continued from page 1 insulted, threatened and criminalized, and less incentive to collaborate with AMLO. Brazil Congress OKs one that opposed his efforts to reverse the This numerical reality, however, does not Privatization of State modernization of the industry, dismissed his mean that the presentation of the reforms offer to discuss his agenda and promised will not be useful for AMLO. The president Utility Eletrobras to honor the voice of their electorate to has declared that even if his constitutional contain AMLO’s destructive tendencies. reforms have little to no chance of being Brazil’s lower house of Congress on Monday Even his ally, the Green Party, may reject a approved in Congress, he will present them approved a plan to privatize state electric reform that will derail renewable energy and anyway. The rationale behind this move is utility Eletrobras, Bloomberg News reported. damage the environment. AMLO’s views of a to put the burden of public opinion against Lawmakers voted 258-136 in favor of the bill government-controlled sector that relies on the opposition parties and to push forward one day before the legislation’s expiration.