Peru swears in new president after turmoil: Update
Adds details on transition.
Peru's months of political upheaval extended to the president's office today when congress ousted President Pedro Castillo for an attempted self-coup and swore in his vice president.
Castillo earlier in the day had tried to dissolve congress ahead of an impeachment vote and install an emergency government, a move that follows months of instability in the cabinet and accusations of corruption within his government. Castillo was arrested today, Peru's national police confirmed.
The US embassy in Peru had called for Castillo to reverse his decision to close congress in a tweet. Peruvian politicians and independent government agencies including the ombudsman's office denounced the move as a self-coup attempt.
Dina Boluarte, a lawyer and former minister, vowed to "defend national sovereignty" in a televised speech upon taking the oath of office.
An attorney and former civil servant who was part of Castillo's presidential ticket in last year's election, Boluarte is Peru's first female president and its sixth leader in the past five years. A wave of corruption scandals have led to constant power struggles between the executive and legislative branches.
She promised in her inauguration speech to try to unite the country and work with the opposition to put the needs of the country first, and said one of her top priorities would be to focus on supporting economic growth.
But Boluarte is not a well-known figure in Peru and will have to contend with a population that has grown tired of their elected officials. In polls before she took office, most Peruvians favored new general elections, with only a fraction preferring Boluarte remain in power to replace Castillo until 2026.
While she has used populist rhetoric like Castillo, Boluarte is seen as more conciliatory and pro-business. She said she would form a broad-based government and would work closely with lawmakers of all parties in congress to avoid confrontations.
Castillo had been elected president last year on promises to rewrite the constitution in favor of the poor. He gave up his more radical plans once in office, but his administration was marked by constant chaos and the erosion of state institutions. In his 16 months as president, Castillo named more than 80 ministers and came under investigation in six criminal probes, most involving alleged corruption and influence trafficking.
Boluarte is expected to form a cabinet in the coming days.
No fuel for the fire
The political problems had already weighed on the energy sector in recent months.
Among the corruption accusations that touched off the crisis were a growing graft scandal involving Castillo and a former chief of PetroPeru. In the wake of this, PetroPeru's financial situation deteriorated rapidly this year after it failed to produce an audit of its 2021 statements. Fears of fuel shortages because of a lack of funds for imports and other operational and logistics concerns led the government in October to sign off on a $1.5bn bailout of the company.
Some relief on fuel volumes was expected to come if PetroPeru's flagship Talara refinery resumes full operations as schedule by 15 December after a three-year closure. Spain's Repsol runs the country's second refinery, the 117,000 b/d La Pampilla.
Peru produces about 40,000 b/d of crude, and China National Petroleum is one of the top producers.
Peru also has one of only two active LNG export facilities in Latin America, the 4.4mn t/yr Pampa Melchorita terminal. Peru exported 120,000t of LNG in September.
It is the world's second-largest copper producer, with output of 232,464t in October.
Related news posts
Lyondell Houston refinery to run at 95pc in 2Q
Lyondell Houston refinery to run at 95pc in 2Q
Houston, 26 April (Argus) — LyondellBasell plans to run its 264,000 b/d Houston, Texas, refinery at average utilization rates of 95pc in the second quarter and may convert its hydrotreaters to petrochemical production when the plant shuts down in early 2025. The company's sole crude refinery ran at an average 79pc utilization rate in the first quarter due to planned maintenance on a coking unit , the company said in earnings released today . "We are evaluating options for the potential reuse of the hydrotreaters at our Houston refinery to purify recycled and renewable cracker feedstocks," chief executive Peter Vanacker said on a conference call today discussing earnings. Lyondell said last year a conversion would feed the company's two 930,000 metric tonnes (t)/yr steam crackers at its Channelview petrochemicals complex. The company today said it plans to make a final investment decision on the conversion in 2025. Hydrotreater conversions — such as one Chevron completed last year at its 269,000 b/d El Segundo, California, refinery — allow the unit to produce renewable diesel, which creates renewable naphtha as a byproduct. Renewable naphtha can be used as a gasoline blending component, steam cracker feed or feed for hydrogen producing units, according to engineering firm Topsoe. Lyondell last year said the Houston refinery will continue to run until early 2025, delaying a previously announced plan to stop crude processing by the end of 2023. By Nathan Risser Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Azerbaijan wants certainty from EU on gas needs
Azerbaijan wants certainty from EU on gas needs
London, 26 April (Argus) — Azerbaijan needs long-term guarantees and available financial instruments to invest in gas production growth, its president Ilham Aliyev said earlier this week. Azerbaijan and the EU signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2022, in which Azerbaijan committed to increasing its supply to the EU to 20bn m³/yr by 2027 from 8bn m³ in 2021. This is a "target that we are moving towards" and exports to Europe will be around 12bn m³ this year, Aliyev said on 23 April at the Cop 29 and Green Vision for Azerbaijan forum ( see Azeri gas production graph ). But Azerbaijan needs investments to reach this export target, and restrictions from financing institutions on fossil fuel projects make them harder to realise, Alyiev said. The European Investment Bank has removed fossil fuel projects from its portfolio and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has only a small share of such projects, Aliyev said. Corporations tend to finance 30pc of gas production or infrastructure projects on their own and the remainder through loans, he said. The other issue is a need to receive long-term guarantees for Azeri gas supply, as "Azerbaijan cannot invest billions only for 5-10 years and not be able to recover the costs", Aliyev said. Azerbaijan is still paying back loans for the Southern Gas Corridor and Shah Deniz Stage 2 projects, he said. A long-proposed Ionian-Adriatic pipeline that could provide the Balkan region with Azeri gas is yet to materialise because it lacks EU funding support and gas consumption in the countries involved is low, particularly considering the challenges involved with building a pipeline in a mountainous region, Aliyev said. But Azeri gas can already reach Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro through Hungary, while it can flow to Serbia through Bulgaria, he said. Aliyev said he believes that the Croatian and Azeri governments are already in consultation about this. Referring to a long-mooted project to build a pipeline across the Caspian Sea to deliver Turkmen gas to Europe, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan has "received no messages from Turkmenistan". Azerbaijan as a transit country cannot become the initiator or co-ordinator of a trans-Caspian pipeline project, Aliyev said. The Southern Gas Corridor is fully booked, meaning that infrastructure developments are needed to transport more gas to Europe, which is "under discussion", Aliyev said. Azerbaijan plans renewables build-out Azerbaijan is targeting 5GW of additional renewable generation capacity, which it aims to substitute for gas, releasing this supply for export to Europe, Aliyev said. Azerbaijan's first 240MW solar plant was inaugurated in 2023. It plans to add four new 1.3GW solar and wind projects this year and is considering some offshore and onshore wind projects as well as solar and hydropower plants. Azeri gas consumption for power generation and heating needs increased to 6.6bn m³ in 2022 from 6.1bn m³ in 2020, and made up almost half of domestic consumption in 2022 ( see data and download ). Azerbaijan is in the last phase of a feasibility study for a green energy cable from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and then further down to Europe. The project aims to initially connect the Georgian Black Sea to the Romanian coast, and plans to expand it further down to the eastern Caspian and Kazakhstan, according to Aliyev. The state plans to keep investing to strengthen the energy grid to allow it to cope with the renewables build-out. Foreign investors are mainly involved with renewables projects. Oil and gas makes up less than half of Azerbaijan's GDP today, but 95pc of its exports, Aliyev said. By Victoria Dovgal Azeri gas production bn m³ Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US M&A deals dip after record 1Q: Enverus
US M&A deals dip after record 1Q: Enverus
New York, 26 April (Argus) — US oil and gas sector mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are likely to slow for the rest of the year following a record $51bn in deals in the first quarter, consultancy Enverus says. Following an unprecedented $192bn of upstream deals last year, the Permian shale basin continued to dominate first-quarter M&A as firms competed for the remaining high-quality inventory on offer. Acquisitions were led by Diamondback Energy's $26bn takeover of Endeavor Energy Resources. Other private operators, such as Mewbourne Oil and Fasken Oil & Ranch, would be highly sought after if they decided to put themselves up for sale, Enverus says. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EU adopts Net-Zero Industry Act
EU adopts Net-Zero Industry Act
London, 26 April (Argus) — Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have adopted Net-Zero Industry Act, which plans to allocate funds towards the production of net-zero technologies. The act provides a pathway to scale up development and production of technologies that are critical towards meeting the EU's recommendation of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. This would include solar panels, electrolysers and fuel cells, batteries, heat pumps, onshore and offshore wind turbines, grid technologies, sustainable biomethane, as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The act is designed to help simplify the regulatory framework for the manufacture of these technologies in order to incentivise European production and supply. It also sets a target of 40pc production within the EU for its annual "deployment needs" of these technologies by 2030. Time limits will be instated on permit grants for manufacturing projects, at 12 months if the manufacturing capacity is under 1 GW/yr and 18 months for those above that. It will introduce time limits of nine months for "net-zero strategic projects" of less than 1 GW/yr and 12 months for those above. This is further complemented by the introduction of net-zero strategic projects for CO2 storage, to help support the development of CCS technology. The act was met with positive reactions from the European Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA), which said the bill will set the benchmark for member states to match 40pc of the deployment needs for clean fuels for shipping with production capacity. ECSA said the Net-Zero Industry Act will be instrumental in supporting the shipping industry to meet targets set under FuelEU Maritime regulations , which are set to come into effect next year. By Hussein Al-Khalisy Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more