Galp Energia and its consortium partners Petrobras and YPF have signed today in Montevideo, an exploration and production agreement for the Uruguayan continental platform with Acap, the national oil company of Uruguay.
The agreement follows the production sharing agreement model, which is also applicable to Galp Energia’s blocks in Angola. The signature of this agreement concludes the process of the Uruguayan offshore exploration round for the Pelotas and Punta del Este basins, carried out in July 2009 by the Uruguayan authorities, when the consortium made a successful bid application for Blocks 3 and 4, located in the south-southwest region of Punta del Este basin.
Block 3 is located 300 kilometers off the coast, in water depths between 200 and 1,500 meters and Block 4 is situated 150 kilometers off the coast in water depths between 100 and 200 meters.
In Block 4 Galp Energia has a stake of 20%, YPF 40% and Petrobras is taking the operatorship with 40%. In Block 3, Galp Energia has also a 20% share, Petrobras 40% and YPF is the operator with 40%.
The consortium will have a period of four years to study the seismic data and to decide if it will perform any drilling activities.
The initial commitments of the consortium include the acquisition of 2D seismic data and the reprocessing of existing data.
Through this new project Galp Energia takes a further step towards consolidating its long term strategy to strengthen its presence in the Exploration & Production business.