Peru increased crude oil output in May as Perenco and Cepsa started production at their jungle fields, while natural gas and gas liquids output fell, the government said Wednesday.
Crude oil production rose to 69,369 b/d from 63,833 b/d in May 2013, the Energy and Mines Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
Perenco's Block 67 oil field in the northern Maranon Basin and Cepsa's Block 131 in the Ucayali Basin -- which both started production over the past six months -- together with output gains at Ecopetrol's offshore Block Z-2B, offset lower production at fields operated by CNPC and Argentina's Pluspetrol, the ministry said.
Natural gas output dropped to 1.17 Bcf/d from 1.22 Bcf/d a year earlier, while gas condensate fell to 104,177 b/d from 106,697 b/d, the ministry said. Declining production at the Camisea and Aguaytia fields countered the start-up of Repsol's Block 57 in the Ucayali Basin, according to the ministry.
Perenco, which brought Block 67 online in December, produced 5,287 b/d of crude in May, while Repsol, which started operations at Block 57 in March, produced 82,864 Mcf/d of natural gas and 5,849 b/d of condensate, the ministry said.
