Energy Policy, Vol.77, 140-151, 2015
Analysis of past and future oil production in Peru under a Hubbert approach
This study evaluates scenarios for the oil production in Peru applying a Hubbert model. Two scenarios for the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) were proposed: the first, in which low investments in E&P and social and environmental barriers undermine the development of oil resources beyond the limits characterized as 2P; the second, more optimistic, in which current exploratory and production areas in Amazonia and low-explored Offshore-Shelf basins are developed, thus, increasing EUR to 3P reserves plus contingent resources. Findings show that oil production in Peru has not followed a Single-Hubbert pattern, except for the area with more drilling activity and the highest accumulated production in the Northwest coast. Actually, institutional and regulation changes and less-attractive periods for operators due to poor results in oil discoveries explain why a multi-Hubbert approach better depicted the oil production in Peru. Peru has the potential to achieve a second peak of 274 kbpd of crude oil, overcoming the peak of 195 kbpd, reached in 1982. However, most of the remaining production would be located in Amazonia, where social and environmental issues pose critical challenges. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.