Pluspetrol was scheduled to begin the mobilisation of materials and equipment to expand its Malvinas Gas Processing Plant, which extracts gas from the Camisea Gas Fields to feed into the Camisea Gas Pipeline, in November 2009.
The Camisea pipeline connects the Camisea Gas Field, located in the Ucayali Basin, 431 km east of Lima, to the Port of Pisco, Peru. The downstream project consists of two pipelines: a 714 km natural gas pipeline and a 540 km liquids pipeline.
The two pipelines run parallel to each other from the Camisea field passing through the Andes mountain range via the Malvinas gas processing plant to Pisco. From Pisco, the natural gas pipeline turns north along the coastline to the Lima city gate to supply gas for domestic use.
Transportadora de Gas Peruano (TGP) is a consortium led by Argentina’s Tecgas and includes Pluspetrol, Hunt Oil, SK Corporation, Sonatrach and Grana y Montero. TGP was awarded three different 33 year contracts by the Government of Peru as part of the Camisea downstream project in 2000 – a contract for the transportation of gas from Camisea to Lima, a second contract for the transportation of natural gas liquids from Camisea to the coast, and a third for the distribution of gas in Lima and Calleo.
Article continues below…Two major upgrades, both due for completion in the second half 2009, are under way: an increase of capacity at a compressor station in the Ayacucho region and the construction of a loop along Peru's coast. The upgrades will expand the pipeline from its current capacity of 115 billion cubic feet per annum (Bcf/a) to a capacity of 164 Bcf/a in an attempt to meet the demand for gas in Peru’s densely populated coastal regions. It was originally anticipated that the pipeline would reach 164 Bcf/a in 2015; however the spike in Peruvian gas consumption from 95 Bcf/a in 2007 to 120 Bcf/a in 2008 has led domestic pressure to be placed on the Peruvian Government to meet domestic natural gas supply needs.
TGP is on schedule to complete the pipeline expansion in December 2009 according to Mr Gamarra.
“TGP has made considerable advances in this process of amplification and it’s likely to be ready by the end of the year,” he said.
