The new administration of PETROPERÚ informed the Commission on Energy and Mines about the strategies to recover PETROPERÚ

During his presentation at the Decentralized Session of the Energy and Mines Commission, held in the city of Piura, PETROPERÚ, through its Vice President, Luis Rafael Zoeger Núñez, its Managing Director, Hugo Chávez Arévalo and the management team, reported on the current situation of the state-owned company, the efforts made to maintain competitive prices in the liquid fuel market and its main ongoing projects, including the completion of the New Talara Refinery and the return to oil exploitation activities in the country.

After greeting the congressmen, Zoeger Núñez indicated that the current management of the state company is betting on the future, through the implementation of a series of actions that will contribute to making PETROPERÚ a strengthened and integrated company. Along these lines, he indicated that, although the situation of the company they received last September has not been the best, concrete actions are being taken that will accelerate their recovery in the short term.

For his part, the General Manager, Hugo Chávez Arévalo, informed the commission that in April of next year the gradual start-up of the New Talara Refinery will begin, following the strategies implemented by the current administration to mitigate the economic impacts that meant a potential delay for its start-up. The ongoing project is 96.4% complete.

Likewise, it was reported on the implementation of the recommendations of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic, after the compliance audit that identified economic damages as well as a lag in the execution schedule of the PMRT in the process of contracting the Auxiliary Units, noting that the delivery of the action plans to punish those responsible has been fulfilled.

Prior to the decentralized session, the congressmen were able to verify in situ the progress of the construction of the New Talara Refinery, accompanied by PETROPERÚ officials. The visit had the presence of congressman Carlos Alva Rojas, President of the Commission on Energy and Mines; as well as César Revilla Villanueva and Pasión Dávila Atanacio, members of the same, and the congressmen Miguel Ciccia Vásquez and Cruz María Zeta Chunga.

As is known, the new refining complex will have modern Auxiliary Units, Process Units, buildings and state-of-the-art infrastructure, which will allow it to process a capacity of 95 thousand barrels of crude, whether light or heavy, to produce, store and transport. gasoline and diesel with sulfur content less than 50 ppm (parts per million), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Turbo A1, solvents, asphalt and residuals; all in compliance with the quality regulations for fuels.

Fuel prices

At another point, Chávez Arévalo made known to the members of Congress the actions that PETROPERÚ has been implementing to reduce the list price of fuels such as diesel, mainly impacted by a sustained increase in international prices since November 2020.

Faced with this situation, the current General Management ordered the reduction of operating expenses (544 million soles), which has allowed it to lower its list prices to achieve greater competitiveness, for the benefit of end users. As will be recalled, the state company reduced the list price of diesel in October by 0.59 soles per gallon including taxes, in order to avoid greater impacts on the economy in sectors sensitive to the price of this fuel.

Regarding the return to the upstream, Chávez Arévalo informed that this will begin in December with the operation of Lot I and will be consolidated with lots 192, 64 and others in the northwest, since these are strategic for the North Peruvian Pipeline (ONP) and the New Talara refinery.

He pointed out that in this way the vertical integration of PETROPERÚ would be achieved, with important benefits for the Company and the country, considering that the exploitation of hydrocarbons is a profitable activity that will contribute to production for the cargo of the New Talara Refinery and will increase the competitive advantage of the hydrocarbon business value chain.

Likewise, he highlighted the experience and professional quality of the current management staff, those who meet the necessary profile to lead the state company, in addition to having experience in the hydrocarbon sector and public management.

Chávez Arévalo reiterated the new administration's commitment to make PETROPERÚ competitive, regain leadership in the hydrocarbon market, strengthen its efficiency, transparency and fight against corruption, fulfilling its mission of supplying fuel to the country.