Shell may invest up to $300 mn in Peru

LIMA (PERU): A company official says that Royal Dutch Shell may invest up to US$300 million in oil and natural gas exploration in northern Peru.

Shell's Peru operations chief Adolfo Heeren told a news conference on Thursday that the company is going to finalize a deal with Houston-based BPZ Energy, Inc. soon to explore petroleum reserves.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding in June outlining possibile joint exploration in the region of Tumbes. BPZ may invest a similar amount in exploration and up to US$150 million in an electric plant.

The Anglo-Dutch Shell pulled out of a US$3 billion gas partnership in Peru in 1998 because it wanted more control over marketing and sales than the Peruvian government had offered.