British multinational energy company BP has confirmed that it has signed production sharing contracts for three deepwater exploration blocks offshore Uruguay.
“The signing of the contracts in Montevideo today completes the award of the blocks, for which BP was the successful bidder in Uruguay’s second offshore licensing round in March 2012,” the company said in a statement on its website on Friday.
The contracts cover blocks 11 and 12 in the Pelotas basin and block 6 in the Punta del Este basin. They are located some 50-100 km (31-62 miles) off the Uruguayan coast, southeast of Montevideo, in water depths from 50 m (164 ft) to 2,000 m (6,561 ft) and together cover an area of almost 26,000 square km (6.4 acres).
BP, which will hold a 100 per cent interest in the blocks, will carry out 2D and 3D seismic acquisition on them during the initial three-year exploration stage starting from 2013.
Uruguay’s state oil company ANCAP will be entitled to participate up to 30 per cent in case of any discoveries, BP said.